Hear Me Out
by Cry Benihime
Summary: AU/AH When Elena left her hometown to help Stefan find his brother, she never thought she would also find love along the way. Damon is a broken man who lives in a world of raw passion the likes of which the two friends have never experienced before. This is the story of two brothers, the girl who united them and the music that accompanied their journey.
1. Prologue

**So here I am with my new story! It's been almost 6 months since I last published anything on this site and I'm incredibly sorry for the long wait. I wanted to write the story in its entirety before publishing it. I did not succeed as this story became more complicated than I intended it to be; let's just say that the amount of effort I'm putting in this new fic surpasses the one I put in Hunters and Prey by a long shot. I have already written a bunch of chapters, though so there's that good news at least.**

 **I need to warn you that updates will be slow as I have a lot of stuff to do both for my Master degree and for my job. I do not have as much time to write as I would like so you'll have to be patient.**

 **Enjoy this new story and let me know what you think!**

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Prologue

It was a cold winter night in Boston, a thick blanket of snow covered the whole city. If one had looked up at the sky to take in the stars and lift their spirit up, they would have been sorely disappointed. For the past week, the sky had been nothing but a uniform slab of dark greys and pale whites that made the city look particularly dreadful; it was one of the worst Januaries the city had ever seen in recent years.

In a small villa in Naples Road, North Brookline, a seven-year-old boy woke up when one of the branches of the tree outside his window banged loudly against the glass. He sat up in bed – sheets gripped tightly in his hands – and looked toward the source of the sound that woke him up. When he heard the loud banging again, he decided to get out of bed and go look for himself what was happening. He knew that it was probably just the tree that was making that sound, but he also knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep if he didn't check; his overactive imagination would conjure up all types of scary monsters to explain the banging sound.

The boy pushed the sheets away from his body and swung his legs to the side to stand up, a shiver running up his back when his bare feet touched the cold floor. He ignored the cold creeping up his legs and tiptoed toward the window. He jumped back when the branch banged once again against the window, only to take a courageous step forward the next moment to finally look outside the window.

As predicted, he saw nothing but the tree swinging this way and that in the night. He heaved a sigh of relief. Now that he knew there was nothing to fear, the boy turned around and ran to his bed, curling under the covers and rubbing his feet against each other to warm them up. He slid his hands under the pillow and closed his eyes, ready to go back to sleep.

Five minutes ticked by and he was still wide-awake.

He reached for the glass of water he always kept on his bedside table – thinking that a sip of water might help him go back to sleep – only to find it empty.

The boy huffed and threw the covers to the side. He once again got out of bed – this time taking the time to reach for his slippers – and grabbed the empty glass of water on his bedside table. He inched his way closer to his bedroom's door and stopped once he reached it. He pressed his ear against it and listened; he heard nothing but silence, signaling that his parents were asleep.

Glad that he wouldn't run into his mother – she didn't like to see him up this late in the night – or even worse into his father, he opened the door and slipped out of his room and into the hallway on the second floor of the villa.

He tiptoed toward the bathroom on his right, his ears ready to catch the smallest sound in the house. Once he got to his destination, he made sure to close the door before turning on the light inside the bathroom. He walked over to the sink and placed the empty glass of water on top of it. Then, he grabbed the chair his mother always left by the sink and dragged it in front of it, always careful not make any sound.

He climbed on top of it and reached out to turn the cold-water faucet. He filled his glass halfway and drank it all in one gulp before filling it again, this time to the brim. He turned the faucet again, stopping the water. He slowly brought the glass to his lips and took a sip to lower the level of the water. When he looked up, he saw his image reflected in the mirror above the sink.

The boy set down his glass of water and leaned forward, his eyes sliding over his reflection in the mirror and stopping right at his lips. He looked at the angry red cut that marked the center of his lower lip and at the gap right behind it where one of his teeth had been. He tried his hardest to block the memory of the hot tears that had rolled down his cheeks that morning – tears caused by a mixture of pain and fear – and of the haunting memory of the blood filling his mouth.

He pulled down his lower lip with gentle fingers to look at his gums. They had long since stopped bleeding but the flesh was still tender so he did his best not to prod it with his tongue. He closed his mouth and poked the cut on his lip, hissing when he felt it sting. He laved at it with his tongue, hoping to ease the pain and then he took another sip of water from his glass. Once he was done, he set the glass down on the sink and climbed down the chair to put it back where it was supposed to be.

He grabbed his glass of water, turned off the light and got out of the bathroom. He walked toward his bedroom but stopped in the middle of the hallway.

The light was on downstairs.

The boy frowned. His dad had drunk a lot of his grown-up juice before going to bed, something that usually put him to sleep pretty quickly and made him wake up late in the morning. That left only his mom, but why would she be awake?

He wasn't sure what to do. Should he go downstairs and see what was happening? What would happen should his father be awake instead of his mother? The boy shuddered thinking of the consequences of his dad being angry with him for not being in bed.

The boy walked inside his bedroom and placed the glass of water on his bedside table. He stopped before climbing into bed, though, when something came to his mind; maybe his little brother woke up and his mother was trying to put him back to sleep. If that was the case, he could help her and spend some time with his baby brother all at once!

He went back to his steps, this time turning to the left to go down the stairs that would lead him to their living room.

He was excited at the prospect of his brother being awake; since they had brought him home from the hospital a month ago, his baby brother had done nothing more than eat, cry and sleep, leaving the seven-year-old boy severely disappointed. He thought having a baby brother would mean having someone to play with; things were not looking up in that department.

He reached the bottom of the stairs and turned right, his feet moving silently over the gleaming marble floors. He went through the archway that led to their enormous living room and saw that the light he had seen from upstairs came from the four lamps next to the sofas, not from the chandelier chained to the ceiling.

Right in the center of the living room – in a shallow pit easily reachable descending five wooden steps – four black leather sofas formed a square with a glass coffee table in the center.

He saw his baby brother strapped into some sort of portable chair. Stefan appeared to be asleep, not that Damon was expecting anything else from the baby. Although, now that he had seen his brother happily sleeping away his life, his theory that his mom woke up to soothe him simply didn't make any sense.

The seven-year-old looked at the other occupant of the room.

His mother was hunched over a bag placed right by Stefan's odd-looking chair, and she was shoving clothes inside of it as fast as she could without making a mess of the carefully folded shirts and pants. Every once in a while, she stopped to look at Stefan and once sure the baby was still sleeping, she went back to what she had been doing before.

The woman zipped up the now full bag and placed it on the floor, reaching underneath the sofa to pull out another bag, this one smaller than the other one. She started putting the remaining clothes in the second bag.

The boy looked at the scene in front of him with a frown marring his brows. Why was his mom packing her bags? Were they going on a trip? It was certainly weird to prepare their bags in the middle of the night. Maybe it was supposed to be a surprise and he had ruined everything coming downstairs! He bit the inside of his cheek, afraid that he might have ruined his mom's surprise. But if it was a surprise, why was Stefan down here? And why wasn't dad helping mom?

He decided to be brave and stepped closer to the pit.

"Why are you packing those bags?" he asked.

His mom jumped at the sound of his voice and turned to look at him with wide fearful eyes. She heaved a sigh of relief – her hand clasped over her chest – when she saw that it was just him. For a moment, her eyes looked behind him as if expecting to see someone else coming downstairs.

"Are we going on a trip?" he insisted.

Lily's heart was still beating rapidly in her chest; even though the voice that had made her turn had been that of a child, she had still felt panic swell up in her chest. For a moment, she had thought Giuseppe had caught her before she'd had the chance to finish what she had started. Even after her eyes had recognized her eldest son looking at her with those big blue eyes, she had glanced at the stairs that led to the second floor, half expecting to see her husband stumbling down in his drunken stupor.

"Sweetie, what are you doing out of bed so late?" She tried to keep her voice light so as not to betray how much he had scared her.

"I couldn't sleep and I saw the light was on here so I thought Stefan woke up and you were trying to put him back to sleep. I wanted to see him."

Lily moved closer to him and took his hand as he descended the five steps that led into the pit. She steered him toward the sofa and made him sit down next to his baby brother. She smiled sadly when he gave Stefan a light caress on his hair.

"So are we going on a trip?" he asked again.

Lily kneeled in front of him and cupped his cheeks with her hands. She brushed her thumbs beneath those eyes that were a mirror of her own and looked at the cut on his lip, avoiding his earnest gaze. She felt a wave of shame hit her when she saw how red and swollen his lip still was.

"How's your lip? Does it still hurt?"

The boy lowered his gaze and looked down at his lips, his eyes crossing in the effort. He jutted out his lower lip as if attempting to see it better and then shrugged his shoulders.

"It hurts if I touch it and my gums feel all weird and squishy so I try my best not to poke them with my tongue," he told her. "It's not that easy, though."

His last words were accompanied by a tight-lipped smile that, somehow, seemed to subtly accuse her of being a horrible mother; not that she could defend herself in any way from that accusation. She had truly been a sorry excuse of a mother to her eldest son, failing him again and again every single day of his life, but maybe she could do a better job with Stefan. Maybe she could give him the life every child was supposed to have.

"Mommy," his quiet voice brought her back to the present. "What is going on?"

She smiled, even though she could already feel her eyes straining with the effort to hold back her tears. She slid her hands from his cheeks to his shoulders, gripping them tightly.

"I'm leaving," she said in a voice as quiet as his had been. "I'm taking Stefan as far away from your father as I can."

The seven-year-old boy looked at his mother with fear-stricken eyes. For a long, awful moment, he did not know what to think. Lily's words had been so unexpected that the poor boy felt like a fish out of water, gasping and writhing pathetically on dry land.

What did it mean that she was leaving? She couldn't leave, not without him! He couldn't even begin to imagine what life would be like without his mom in it; who would help him with his homework? Who would give him his goodnight kiss while tucking him into bed at night? She was essential to him; she couldn't just take his brother and go away.

He felt a knot forming in his stomach when he realized that she had said she would take Stefan away but did not say anything about him.

Was she leaving him?

"Mom?" his voice shook as panic started to spread inside him. He clenched her shirt in his hands, holding onto her for dear life. "What does it mean that you're leaving with Stefan? What about me? Are you leaving me here with dad?"

Lily couldn't hold her tears back at the sight of her eldest son's terrified eyes. She covered his little hands with hers and tried to calm him down but nothing seemed to work. Without letting go of her shirt, he scrambled down the sofa and into her lap.

"Is it because I got dad angry this morning and he started screaming?" If he knew what he had done to make her go away without him, maybe he could fix it and make her change her mind. "I'm sorry he got angry, I didn't mean to ruin his papers with coffee. It just happened, I swear!"

The woman held her now sobbing son close to her chest, each word like a dagger piercing her heart, each tear he shed like a drop of fire that seared her skin leaving behind a mark she knew she would bear for the rest of her life. He was trembling like a leaf in her arms, bawling his eyes out against her chest as she rocked him gently to ease his tears as much as possible.

For a moment, she considered taking him with her and leaving that villa that had never been a home, with her two boys. She would have to work hard and things wouldn't be easy for the three of them, but maybe she could make them work, and they would all be happy. Her eyes slid to Stefan, still asleep in his car-seat, unaware of the tragedy happening not a foot from him. Just one look at his unblemished little face gave her hope for the future.

She looked down at the child in her arms and immediately realized the impossibility of her dream. She had known it when she had first started thinking about leaving and she knew it in that moment; she could not bring the seven-year-old with them.

She leaned back to look at her son and brushed her thumbs beneath his eyes to dry his tears.

"Look at your brother," she told him in a gentle voice. "Look at how small and defenseless he is."

He looked at his baby brother – his tears still running down his cheeks – and knew exactly what she wanted him to see; Stefan was so little and fragile that he was scared to touch him in fear of hurting him with the slightest caress.

What would happen to him if dad got angry and decided to hurt him too? He was too little to get away with it like Damon could. He didn't want his little brother to get hurt.

Lily cupped his cheek and made him look back into her eyes. He had always thought her eyes were the prettiest he had ever seen, but now they looked scary to him. They were cold and sent shivers down his back; he knew then that there would be no convincing her and he sniffed loudly when he felt his heart clench in his chest.

"I need to protect him, do you understand me?" he tried to listen to what his mother was saying over the blood pumping in his ears. "I need to find a safe place for him where your father won't find him."

He shook his head and spoke through the knot he felt in his throat, "Mom, don't go, please," he begged her. "I don't want to stay here."

Her fingers pressed on his cheeks almost painfully when she made him raise his head to look at her.

"I will come back for you, okay?" she spoke with an edge of desperation. "I will find a safe place for your brother and then I'll come back for you and you won't have to live here anymore."

He felt hope making way in his heart. She was coming back? He would live with her and his brother? It seemed too beautiful to be true.

"Do you promise?"

Lily reached beneath her hair and unclasped the necklace she always wore. She took it and wound it tightly around her son's wrist, the pendant in the shape of a musical note pressed against his palm. He loved that necklace; the chipped pendant that looked more like a half-moon with a flag stuck in it than a musical note, but that he loved anyway.

"Look at me," she told him. "I swear I will come back for you. I'll be back so quickly that you won't even notice I was missing."

Despite everything, he believed her and made no move to stop her when she rose to her feet and zipped up her bags. She slung the smaller one over her shoulder and grabbed the other one in her left hand before kneeling in front of him again.

She hugged him tightly, kissing every inch of his face. He could still feel the wetness of his tears on his cheeks and the remnant of the pain he had felt when his mom had said she was leaving without him, but now it was dulled. Her promise that she would come back had sent away all his fears.

She once again cupped his cheeks and look at him intently, as if committing his face to her memory.

"I love you, Damon," she said. "I love you so much, my sweet little boy."

"I love you too, Mommy."

He rose on his knees and bent over Stefan. He pressed his lips against his cheek, holding back a grimace when the cut on his lip stung because of the pressure he had applied on it. Damon leaned back and looked at his brother.

"Bye, Steffie," he whispered as his mother grabbed the handle of the car-seat. "I'll see you soon."

Lily leaned down and pressed a lingering kiss to his forehead before standing up. He watched as she picked up the car-seat in which Stefan was still sleeping quietly. With each step she took toward the door, he felt a weight settle over his shoulders.

His eyes remained glued to her retreating back until she disappeared through the front door.

Not once did she look back at him.

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 **Many, many thanks to delena21051 for betaing this chapter!**


	2. Lyrics & Music

**AN: Thank you so much for the amazing response to the Prologue, guys! You can't imagine how happy you made me! I'll keep this short so you can go and enjoy the chapter; I just wanted to say that I think I will keep updating once every 2 weeks and always on a Sunday. This way I should have enough time to write the new chapters, edit them and send them to my amazing beta - who I thank once again - delena21051.**

 **Thank you to the guest reviewers, your reviews count as much to me as all others!**

 **Enjoy!**

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Chapter 1 - Lyrics & Music

 _Eighteen Years Later…_

It was the day after graduation and the hot summer sun shone brightly over the small town of Mystic Falls. It was as though the sun wanted to give the newly freed students the perfect way to start their brief vacation before college time swept in.

The heat of the early afternoon had forced the majority of the people to stay inside, leaving the proper celebrations for the evening. That evening, as it was customary at the end of every school year, the older students had organized a party down at the Falls – the only cool place in town if you asked any teenager.

The Mystic Grill – only place where students could meet to spend some time together playing darts and pool – was crowded like never before. Every booth had been reserved for families celebrating together their son or daughter's achievement while, nearby, younger students simply celebrated the fact that for the next few months there were no more classes to attend or tests to prepare for.

Not everyone was partying, though.

A young man slowly made his way through the town's square – a paper-bag in his hands. He waved with a smile stretching his lips when some of his, now former, classmates whistled and cheered when they saw him passing by. They tried to talk him into stopping at The Grill with them, but he simply declined with a gracious smile saying he already had things to do.

Without any further delay, he quickened his steps until he reached 'Lyrics and Music', the best – and only – music shop in town. He pushed the door open and breathed a sigh of relief when the cool air inside the shop hit him accompanied by the cheerful tune of the door's bell; he loved this place and had spent here so many hours that he considered it his second home.

The shop was not overtly big but it offered everything anyone interested in music would need. There were rows and rows of shelves packed full of CDs divided by decades and genres; you could find anything from the most recent pop song to the old tune Beethoven liked to whistle while composing his sonatas – that's how supplied the shop was.

In one corner, lined up on the wall, there was a series of splendid guitars in all their shiny, colorful glory. Not far from them, there were a couple of drum sets and on the opposite corner of the shop, stereos and speakers for all tastes. Finally, right by the door, there was an entire section dedicated to various musical instruments like flutes, violins, even ocarinas.

Yeah, 'Lyrics and Music' was a musician's dream. At least in a small town like Mystic Falls.

The young man waved expertly through the shelves until he reached the cash area. There, behind the counter, he saw a thirteen-year-old kid with his eyes fixed on the computer screen in front of him, his hands flying over the keyboard of his laptop. He did not raise his eyes when the teenager leaned over the counter to look at what the kid was doing.

"Hey, Jer," he greeted the younger kid.

"Hey, Stefan. Elena is in the back with Dad."

The kid answered without looking up from what he was doing. Stefan smiled at his concentration; he had never seen a thirteen-year-old kid capable of focusing so intently on something without having his attention dwindle down to nothing in a matter of seconds.

"Thanks. What are you doing?"

Jeremy shrugged his shoulders and glanced at the older boy for a second.

"I'm hacking into Bobby Richards' Facebook account," he said. "I'm changing his status to 'in a relationship with Christie Jones' aka 'War Machine'."

Stefan shook his head with a sigh, though his lips stretched into an amused smile. "Jer, you've got to stop hacking into people's accounts and stuff like that. It's illegal and you know it."

The younger boy turned toward him and raised his hands in a helpless gesture, "It's only illegal if you get caught and besides, he deserves it. He went around the school telling everyone that I used to be a girl and that my true name is Jessie. Who even does that?"

It wasn't the first time that Stefan heard of the famous Bobby Richards. He and Jeremy never got along since the day they met in the first year of primary school. He didn't know exactly what happened between the two of them but he knew that Bobby had made it his mission to make Jeremy's life as hard as possible. He couldn't even count the times Jer had ranted about Bobby's general douchery.

Of course, things took a turn for the worst when Jeremy discovered he had a knack for hacking into things. Stefan honestly thought that the boy was some kind of genius when it came to computers; he'd seen him do things he believed were only possible in spy movies.

"I know that he deserves it, Jer but you can't keep hacking into his stuff. You're gonna get into trouble." Stefan knew it wasn't his right to scold the kid but he honestly cared about Jeremy.

The thirteen-year-old kid huffed and focused back on his computer, "I'll stop when Bobby stops, not before. I'm tired of the crap he pulls," he said.

Stefan decided to leave it at that. He grabbed the paper bag he had previously set on the counter and turned to walk into the back of the store.

"Thanks, kid," he said passing by Jeremy. "And watch your tongue!"

He gave a playful swat to the back of Jeremy's head, smiling at the insulted 'hey!' that reached his ears. Jeremy was going to end up in trouble one of these days, especially if he didn't learn to keep his mouth shut. The Gilberts were great parents, but they had a no tolerance policy when it came to profanities, something that apparently Jeremy chose to ignore.

Stefan walked the short way that led to the back of the store, passing through the hallway right behind the counter where Jeremy was still hacking away. He opened the door at the end of the hallway and was greeted by the sight of Elena and her father working together to the sound of music softly playing in the background.

Lyrics and Music's back store – or Grayson's Music Paradise as he liked to call it – was a cozy room with wooden floors and walls buried under dozens and dozens of old concerts' posters. Wherever one looked, there were piles of boxes full of CDs. The only two places devoid of anything on top of them where Grayson's desk where he kept pictures of his family and friends neatly lined by the wall, and an old couch that had seen better days placed right between two bookcases filled with old records.

The Gilberts were swaying gently in time with the notes of an old song by the Guns N' Roses – _Sweet Child O' Mine_ , if he remembered correctly – and they didn't notice him coming in. He leaned against the door and watched them in silence as they sifted through boxes of what looked like old albums. Elena was looking through her box, every once in a while putting an album on a small pile on her right, while putting the rest back inside the box.

"Sweetie, for Bob Dylan's month should we go with 'Bringing It All Back Home' or 'Highway 61 Revisited'?" Grayson asked turning toward his daughter and holding up two albums for her to look at.

Elena sucked in her lower lip studying the two albums, "Well, 'Bringing It All Back Home' has _Subterranean Homesick Blues_ in it, which is a pretty awesome song," she said. "On the other hand, 'Highway 61 Revisited' is practically Bob's pledge of allegiance to rock music and electric guitars."

Grayson nodded seriously, "So 'Highway 61 Revisited'" he concluded.

"Definitely, Dad."

"Got it."

"Don't you think the 60s ended way too long ago to start selling those albums?"

Elena and her dad both turned toward Stefan when they heard his voice. The two had moved practically in synch, and Stefan had to fight not to laugh out loud at the equally scandalized looks they threw at him. To say the Gilberts were passionate about music was an understatement.

Grayson was capable of recognizing any song just by hearing a couple of lines of lyrics, rattling off even the year of the song and the album in which it was featured. Elena, Stefan and even Jeremy had a little game they liked to play called 'The Gilbert Quiz for Musical Glory' in which they searched for the most obscure song lyrics they could find and asked Grayson to guess from which song they came; Grayson had yet to lose.

Elena was not that far behind her father when it came to music. Her mom was a pediatric surgeon at Mystic Fall's Hospital and, as her job demanded, she had to spend a lot of her time at the hospital, sometimes going home late in the night. To avoid leaving their daughter alone at home, Grayson had decided to keep her with him in his shop, helping her with her homework between a customer here and there, and teaching her everything he knew about music. As a result, Elena practically grew up eating music for breakfast.

"Okay, first of all, it's never too late to sell the classics from the 60s," Grayson said lifting up a finger. "And second, we're working on a project I came up with to sell more CDs."

Stefan raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner.

"Dad wants this to be the year of anniversaries," Elena told him.

"Anniversaries?"

"Exactly," Grayson said with an energetic nod. "I will dedicate each month to one or two famous artists who happen to celebrate the anniversary of the launch of one of their albums this year."

Stefan walked closer to the pile of albums that Elena had been selecting and looked at it. He noticed albums from Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Oasis, Radiohead and ABBA.

"So this is why you're going through all these boxes," he said.

Father and daughter nodded.

"I came to the conclusion that you kids need to be educated on what real music is," Grayson explained. "I mean, I don't judge people for their taste in music but if I have to listen to another song from Lone Direction or whatever they're called, I'll go crazy. You need to listen to Springsteen, AC/DC, Aretha Franklin and all the other great artists that defined music, not this electronic stuff you like so much."

Stefan and Elena listened to Grayson's impassioned speech with passive expressions. Elena's father liked to listen to a vast range of music but when it came down to it, the classics were like the Bible for him. Sure, he listened to Coldplay, Linkin Park and – Jeremy swore he had actually witnessed this – even Taylor Swift, but the only thing that truly got his heart pumping were the songs he grew up listening to as a child.

Both Elena and Stefan knew that they needed to keep their mouths shut and nod at the right time if they wanted to avoid listening to a lesson on the virtues of the classics. The secret was to wait patiently until Grayson stopped talking to take a breath and immediately say something before he could start again; it was a technique that Elena and Jeremy had honed after hours and hours of music lessons.

As soon as she saw her chance, Elena sprang to action.

"Hey, Dad can I take a short break? Stefan and I have some things we need to discuss."

"Uh?" Grayson seemed momentarily lost. He shook his head with a frown, not sure what had just happened. When he saw his daughter and Stefan looking at him waiting for him to say something, he realized he needed to answer the question. "Sure, honey. You kids go and talk; I'll just stay here and check the albums we already selected. Do me a favor and turn up the volume of the radio; 'Rising Stars' is on."

Elena gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and took Stefan's hand to steer him toward the worn-down couch. The two heaved a sigh while sitting down, glad they had managed to avoid Grayson's lesson.

"Thank God you stopped him," Stefan whispered.

"Yeah, that was close."

Elena reached over the armrest on her side and turned up the volume of the radio as her father requested, taking the chance to cover up a little her and Stefan's words so that her father couldn't hear them.

'Rising Stars' was her father's favorite radio show. He had discovered it a couple of years before and had quickly become a loyal follower of the show; the thirty-minutes long show promoted new artists in the music industry, giving them a chance to let people hear what they were capable of doing and hopefully gain a small fan-base that could help them become famous.

Apparently, the show actually worked because several artists – and even two or three bands that were now climbing the music charts – had all passed through 'Rising Stars'. Her father liked to follow the show and write down the names of those singers and bands he thought could become famous. He had a small corner of the shop dedicated to still unknown artists where he liked to promote them; he knew that making them famous in a small town like Mystic Falls wouldn't matter, but he liked to think he was helping all those young men and women who were trying to make their dreams come through.

" _Gooood afternoon, ladies and gents and music aficionados and welcome to a new episode of 'Rising Stars'! Today, yours truly is here to present you a new band slowly making their way through the music industry. Let me introduce to you 'The Nobodies'!"_

Elena tuned out the people speaking over the radio and focused on her friend. She and Stefan had been friends since forever, so she always knew when something was wrong with him and right now, something was definitely wrong. Instead of looking ecstatic for the beginning of their much deserved summer, he looked – to put it simply – 'bummed out'. Now, as far as Elena knew, there was only one thing that could make Stefan look like that these days.

"So, how are things going with Operation Search & You'll Find? Any new development?"

If Stefan's miserable sigh was any indication, things weren't looking up.

"Nothing new. I haven't been able to find any new clue and Mom and Dad pretend nothing happened. Every time I try to bring up 'the accident'," he used his fingers to recreate the inverted commas, "they just change the subject as if I hadn't even been speaking."

Elena took his hand in hers to offer him some comfort from where he had it clenched on the backrest of the couch.

"I'm sorry things are going this way. Honestly, I don't understand why she doesn't want to talk to you about your brother. You have every right to know about him."

Stefan couldn't agree more.

To say Stefan had been shocked by the discovery that he had an older brother somewhere out there, was simply an understatement.

Six months before the end of school, he had been snooping around in his parents' bedroom looking for his birthday gift. It was an old tradition, truly; his mom hid his present in ever-clever places and he tried to find it before his birthday came up. The prize? The satisfaction of one-upping the other.

This year, Stefan hadn't managed to find his present. What he did find, though, was much more important. Hidden at the back of his mother's closet underneath piles and piles of old family albums, was a small wooden box. Stefan had taken it out just out of curiosity – something had told him that that couldn't be his birthday gift – and had opened it. Inside were what appeared to be old trinkets; a simple silver bracelet so small that could be worn only by a baby, a teeny tiny hand-made sock, a desiccated maple leaf and random objects just thrown in the middle.

At the bottom of the box, however, there had been an old wrinkled piece of paper. Stefan had taken it out carefully; afraid it could crumble in his fingers. Once he had had it safely out of the box, he had realized that it wasn't a piece of paper; it was a picture. He had mistaken it for a piece of paper because it had been lying face-down inside the box, but now that he had it in his hand, he could feel the difference in texture of the picture.

On the back of it, in a neat calligraphy, there had been simply written: _Damon 7, Stefan 2 weeks._

He had turned the picture over – his heart beating loudly in his ears – and his eyes had widened at what he had found. It was the picture of a boy holding a baby in his arms. The boy – Damon he assumed – had a mop of black hair standing up in all directions and bright blue eyes and he was looking all serious at the baby he held. Upon a closer look, Stefan noticed he was clenching something in the hand he had leaning against the baby's hip; it was a necklace with a chipped musical note pendent.

When he had moved his eyes to the sleeping baby in Damon's arms, he had felt like the world had come crumbling down underneath him. He knew exactly who that baby was; there were pictures of him all over the house. Stefan had looked at himself with disbelieving eyes.

Why was there a picture of a boy he had never seen holding him as a baby? Who was that boy? He knew that they hadn't always lived in Mystic Falls so maybe he could be the son of a neighbor from the place where they used to be. But if he was the son of a neighbor, why wasn't the picture stored in a family album together with the others like this? Why was it hidden?

Stefan had felt dizzy. He had felt the need to confront his parents about this picture because he couldn't understand what he was seeing. He had jumped on his feet ready to go downstairs where he could hear his parents watching the TV, but he had stopped. Instead of going immediately downstairs, he had gone into his room to scan and save the picture in his computer, just to be safe. He didn't want to risk the chance of his parents taking it away from him.

It turned out that he had been right. When he had confronted his parents about it, they had gotten mad and had told him to stop snooping around in their bedroom. They had made up some excuse on how they had thought they had lost that picture and that it was from before they had moved to Mystic Falls. They had said that Damon had been a kid that used to look after him while his parents prepared to move.

Stefan hadn't believed a single word.

That night, after his little brother and his little sister had gone to bed, he had snuck out of his bedroom to eavesdrop on his parents. They were speaking in hushed voices in the kitchen and he knew they must have been discussing what had happened earlier in the day. That had been how he had learned that Damon was his mother's son from a previous marriage.

The very next day at school, Stefan had told Elena everything that had happened. He and Elena had been friends since forever – what with living right next door to each other – so he knew she would understand exactly how angry and disappointed in his parents he was. She had been as shocked as he had been and had immediately offered to help him find his brother. It had been her firm belief that Stefan needed to find his brother and get some answers, since his parents were dead-set upon remaining silent.

The only problem with what Elena had decided to call 'Operation Search & You'll Find' was that they had no way of discovering where Damon was. The only information they had was that, at the time of the picture, he had been 7 years old. That helped them discover that he had been born sometime in the first half of 1990, since Stefan had been 2 weeks old in the picture.

They had no way of knowing where the picture had been taken or what Damon's last name was. Stefan had always known that Julian was his adoptive father, but he had no clue on who is biological father was. Hence, he didn't know what his father's – and Damon – last name was.

Both he and Elena had tried snooping around in his parents' bedroom but, just like he had predicted, the wooden box had disappeared. They hadn't been able to find anything else that could be even remotely linked to Damon.

So Operation Search & You'll Find had hit a bit of a snag.

Elena didn't know what to say to her friend. She wished she had a way to find out exactly where his brother was; she wished she could find some kind of clue they had missed in Stefan's picture and then suddenly discover where Damon lived. Unfortunately for both of them, there seemed to be no solution to their problem. The only one who could tell them something about Damon was Stefan's mother and the chances of her telling them the truth seemed rather slim.

The two friends spoke in hushed tones for a while, exchanging ideas on where to go with their search. When it became clear that they wouldn't be making any progress that day, Elena diverted Stefan's attention on what they were going to do during summer now that they were finally free from school. They started discussing their future college life. They had both been accepted at Columbia and so they needed to figure out whether they would stay on campus or rent a small apartment and become roommates.

In the background, the radio kept broadcasting 'Rising Stars'. Elena had ignored the program up until now, but the bubbling voice of a young woman speaking in an excited tone caught her attention.

"… _we're totally up for the challenge, Roy! We may be a new band on the market with a long way to go, but I can assure you that we are not going to sit quietly hoping that fame will magically come our way. We will fight tooth and nail to carve ourselves a place in the industry! I'm looking at you my dear boy bands; you better watch your backs because before you even know it, we'll be at the top of the charts!"_

" _Did you hear that? The Nobodies have officially thrown the gauntlet, as they say."_ The interviewer – Roy – spoke with laughter in his voice. _"I've got to say, I like you guys. You know the road won't be easy but you're ready to face it. That's the way to go! But let's speak with the other members…"_

Elena stopped listening once again when her father's voice rang out.

"Elena sweetie, I hate to ask you this because I said you could take a break, but I'm seriously lost here." Grayson turned around and showed her all the albums he'd piled up on his now impossible to even see desk.

Elena smiled and shook her head at her dad. She stood up and turned to Stefan with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I've got to go help my dad."

Stefan shrugged his shoulders and stood up next to her, "It's not a problem, really." He looked at Grayson. "Mr. Gilbert, if it's not too much trouble can I stay and help? I know I'm nowhere near yours and Elena's knowledge when it comes to music, but maybe an unbiased opinion could prove useful?"

Grayson smiled at him and gestured for him to step closer. "You're such a nice guy, Stefan. It'd be wonderful if you could help us. I'm really sorry for interrupting you and Elena but I'm really afraid I wouldn't able to do this without my daughter."

The three of them set to work. Elena and her Dad selected the albums they thought could be interesting to propose to their clients and, whenever they couldn't decide between two – sometimes even three – different artists, they asked Stefan to give them his opinion.

Stefan hadn't been trying to play modest when he'd said that his knowledge of music was nowhere near the Gilberts'. He gave his opinion when he recognized the artists in question but sometimes, he could only choose the artist that he liked more relying purely on instinct. Not the best way to choose but at least he managed to stop Elena and her father before they could launch into a full-scale music war.

They worked in companionable silence, speaking only when one of them had doubts on which album to choose. The only continuous source of sounds was the radio still transmitting 'Rising Stars'. It appeared that now the interviewer – what was his name again, Roy? – was now speaking to the leader of the band. Elena had failed to catch his name but she didn't think too much of it, since it seemed like he was the classic cocky guy that thought being a rockstar made him God's gift to humanity.

" _Let's talk about your fanbase, shall we? Even though you're still moving your first steps in this industry, it seems you've already started gaining some fans particularly young girls, right?"_

" _Well Roy, not to brag or anything, but it'd be weird if girls didn't flock our way. I mean, apart from the awesome music we make, I happen to be a lucky guy when it comes to the ladies, if you know what I mean."_

Elena blew out a breath at the words she had just heard. She congratulated herself on the correct diagnosis on the leader of the band; he was indeed the epitome of the cocky guy. Who said things like that when interviewed to promote their band? Had he no shame at all? She wondered if the other members of the band were just as bad as he was or if they simply happened to have the patience of a saint to put up with him.

She rolled her eyes and focused back on her work, adding another album to her growing pile of artists. If she kept going like this, she would end up with an endless list of albums for her father's project.

She mentally reminded herself to go through her list and select only the very best amid all those albums.

On the radio, Roy was saying his goodbyes to the band, preparing to end the program for the day.

" _It's been a pleasure having you guys here, I say this honestly. I hope you guys will make it but for now I can tell you this; you have just gained a loyal friend in yours truly. It's all for today, my dear friends! I will now leave you with the debut single of our dear The Nobodies!"_

Elena listened as the first notes of the song started playing. She was convinced she wasn't going to like the song for the simple fact that the lead singer had struck her as an arrogant fool, so disliking the song was a question of principle. When she heard the singer start to sing the first lyrics, though, her thoughts halted.

 _I feel a little lost in this world  
I try a little noise and choke  
I've honestly never felt this alone  
Oh, I just need someone_

 _So Cocky Guy can sing_ , was the first thing that went through her mind. In all honesty, Cocky Guy could sing really well; his voice was clear and strong, with a husky quality to it that coiled deep in Elena's belly and made her think of dark, dangerous things in the night. The music accompanying his words was just perfect, and the voices of the back-up singers – a man and a woman – created an amazing contrast with his.

It was with a grim, tight-lipped smile and a heavy sigh that she had to grudgingly admit the song wasn't so bad. Maybe she had misjudged Cocky Guy, maybe not, but it wasn't important because someone who could sing like that deserved all the compliments in the world.

She heard her father murmur something about looking up 'the band that was playing over the radio to see if it was worth it buying their stuff' and she mentally appointed to do the same; if there were other songs of theirs somewhere, she wanted to listen to them. She didn't know why, but there was something about the lyrics of this song that struck somewhere deep in her.

It felt as though Cocky Guy was singing about himself.

 _I've been through and seen a lot  
Left at the bottom and the top  
We're on borrowed time, but time isn't enough  
I'm just trying to be the best me I can be  
Oh when I fall down, it's just me and the ground  
I am no king, I have no throne_

When the song ended, Elena went back to her work, all the while thinking about The Nobodies and the fact that she may have just found her new favorite band.

The three of them worked together all afternoon until Grayson decided they had done enough for the day. They helped him close the shop and, when Jeremy and Grayson went to the car, Elena remained behind with Stefan.

"Hey, do you want to come over tomorrow morning?" she asked him. "Maybe we can get Jeremy to look up your brother with his pc; you know how good he is. Maybe he'll find something."

Stefan nodded, though he didn't look too hopeful. "Sure, why not? Trying won't hurt, right? By the way, your brother hacked again into one of his classmates' profiles on Facebook. I just though you should know."

Elena ran a hand through her long straight hair, annoyed at her brother. "Again? It's the fifth time in as many months! Is he trying to set a record or something?"

Stefan shrugged his shoulders. He knew how many times Jeremy had ended up in trouble with his parents thanks to his ability with a computer. Elena tried to make him understand how he couldn't just hack into people's things, but he didn't seem to listen to her.

"Don't tell him I was the one who told you, ok?" He didn't want Jeremy snooping around in his computer.

Elena waved him off saying goodbye to him, before jogging over to where her father was waiting for her so that they could go home.

* * *

 **The song is 'Room to Breathe' by 'You me at six'.**

 **There will be several songs in this story and I've chosen every single one of them very specifically. Most of them are sung by men with a voice that could be defined as similar to Ian's (to make it easier for you to imagine the whole thing), but some of them could be sung by women - in which case the song was chosen because its lyrics were what I was looking for.**

 **This is it! Let me know what you think!**


	3. Starting Point

**AN: I'm really shocked by the amazing reviews I'm getting! You guys are simply incredible and you make me want to write for hours and hours so that I don't disappoint you with the new Chapters! Thank you so much! I'm also so happy many of you liked the song I put in the previous chapter XD**

 **I'll keep this short and just thank delena21051 for the amazing work she's doing beating this story! You guys have her to thank if you don't find any spelling or grammar mistake ;)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **PS: I'll get to your reviews as soon as I can; I will definitely answer to them!**

* * *

Chapter 2 - Starting Point

Elena stretched lazily under the covers before letting herself fall back onto the mattress with a satisfied sigh. She listened to the sounds of the house; downstairs, she could hear her parents preparing breakfast while discussing their schedule for the day; no sound came from Jeremy's room so she assumed – correctly – that her brother was still asleep. She let the warmth of her bed envelop her knowing she did not have to get out in that moment if she didn't want to.

Oh, the joys of the end of school.

It was the first weekend of summer vacation and she couldn't help but feel full of expectations. She had no homework to do, no essay to worry about. She could relax for months before diving into the new adventure that was going to be college. Sure, there were still a lot of things to discuss before she could start her life as a freshman in college, but she had all the time in the world for that.

In that moment, life was perfect.

She spent another twenty minutes lying in bed just because she could, before checking the time. She looked at the clock on her bedside table. It was 9am so she still had at least a couple of hours before Stefan came over.

She threw the covers off her body and jumped out of bed. She walked over to her dressing table and turned on a small stereo, setting it to a random radio channel. _Waiting For Love_ by Avicii started to play and Elena slowly nodded her head to the rhythm before launching herself into a full-on dancing performance around her room.

She jumped this way and that, her hair flying from left to right. She let her body loose, getting her blood pumping through her veins and really waking up. While moving around her room, she opened her closet and her drawers picking out shirts and pants. She threw the clothes onto her bed, laying out different outfits from which to choose.

Shaking her hips, she stopped at the foot of her bed and looked at her possible outfits. She decided to go for a combat green top and a pair of jean shorts. Once the clothes problem had been solved, it was time for her to take a morning shower. She snatched a brush from her dresser and smoothly moonwalked in her bathroom, brushing her hair along the way.

Once in her bathroom she turned the faucet in her shower and let the water warm. She made sure the door to Jeremy's room was locked before jumping in the shower. _Hey Mama_ by David Guetta and Nicki Minaj was now blasting through her room and Elena started to sing along as she shampooed her hair.

She heard a loud _thud_ against the door of the bathroom and peeked out of the shower.

"It's too early for this hell!" Her brother shouted from his room.

Elena rolled her eyes, "Shut up, Jer!"

"You shut up! You can't hit a note to save your life!"

At the last insult – not that it was incorrect, although she would never admit it to others much less to herself – Elena started to sing even louder. She smiled widely when she heard an indistinct groaning coming from her brother's room. Serves him right; no one could bring her down that morning.

Done with her shower, she towel dried her hair and went into her room to dress for the day. She pulled up the jean shorts and shrugged on the green top, never stopping her sing-along with the radio. A new song she had never heard before came on and she stopped, frowning when she couldn't figure out who was singing it.

The fact that she had never heard that song before made her think that maybe it had been written by a new singer or band. As soon as that thought entered her mind, she remembered about The Nobodies and how she had decided to look them up to see if they had more songs she could listen to.

She walked over to her desk and pulled up the top of her laptop, pressing the power button to turn it on. While she waited for it to load, she went downstairs to eat something.

Her father was drinking a cup of coffee while perusing the morning newspaper, while her mom was cooking breakfast.

"Good morning!" she said smiling at her parents.

"Morning, sweetheart," her father said lowering the newspaper to let his daughter kiss him on the cheek.

"You're up early, I thought you'd be sleeping in today," her mother said turning to receive her daughter's kiss on the cheek.

Elena opened the fridge and grabbed the bottle of orange juice to pour herself a glass.

"Stefan's coming over in an hour or so," she told her mother while sitting down next to her father. "I wanted to be ready for when he arrived."

"Why is he coming over?" Miranda asked.

Elena shrugged her shoulders and smiled at her mom when she passed her a plate with three pancakes stuck one over the other. Her mom made the best pancakes in the entire world, she was sure of it as was the rest of the family.

"We're going to talk about what we're going to do this summer and maybe about college. You know normal stuff."

"Have you decided where you want to go before college?" her dad asked. He folded the newspaper and took the plate his wife handed him with a grateful smile.

Elena shook her head, "We're still deciding," she spoke with her mouth full of pancakes.

Miranda sat down next to her. "Don't speak with your mouth full, sweetie," she told her daughter.

Elena swallowed the bite she had in her mouth, "Sorry, mom."

Her mother moved a lock of hair behind her daughter's ear and smiled at her, "Don't worry too much about where you want to go, you two have all the time you want to decide. No need to rush things."

When she was done eating her breakfast, Elena went back upstairs and sat down at her desk. She looked at her laptop and saw that it was done loading so she could start her search.

She started with a general Google search. She typed in 'The Nobodies' and waited to see what would come up. As she had imagined, no result seemed to match the new band she was looking for. She scrolled through the results but found only a song by Marilyn Manson, a short film she had never heard of and other stuff that simply she couldn't care less about.

She went back to the search bar and added the words 'new' and 'band' to see if she could narrow the results.

Once again, a lot of the results had nothing to do with what she was looking for but this time there was a link that looked promising. She clicked on it and entered a website. She took a quick look at it and found out that the website was apparently dedicated to keeping track of new bands or singers. There were several articles on particularly talented singers who had participated in some kind of singing competition, bands that looked promising and even rising violinists.

She scrolled down the page and found an article dedicated to The Nobodies. Glad to have found something interesting, she clicked on it and started to read it.

"Alright, let's see what we've got," she murmured as her eyes moved along the lines.

There was a brief introduction to the band. It was composed of four members; there was the lead vocalist Damon Salvatore, the bassist and backup singer Caroline Forbes, the guitarist and backup singer Lorenzo St. John and the drummer Bonnie Bennett. Elena's eyes widened when she read the name of their manager; Alaric Saltzman.

She whistled, impressed by the manager the band had managed to score.

Alaric Saltzman was a legend in the music industry. At 36, he had already been responsible for the rise to fame of Rose and Trevor Porter, a couple famous for their heartbreaking indie rock songs; he single-handedly found and brought to fame rapper Tyler Lockwood and sponsored child prodigy Annabelle 'Anna' Zhu, the idol of all teenage girls. The fact that The Nobodies had been chosen by him said a lot on the potential of this band.

Elena scrolled down on the page to read about the band. There wasn't a lot about them, no bio on any of the members, no school records or things like that. In a couple of lines, she found their birthdates, birthplaces and their hobbies and the likes but nothing personal. It was as though they didn't want people to really know them, which was ridiculous because they were a rising band so they should want people to know them.

The only relevant thing she could find was that the band had been formed only a year ago and that it already had eleven singles under its belt. They had yet to produce an album but, since Alaric was their manager, Elena was sure it was only a matter of time now.

The Nobodies had started playing first in small pubs and a couple of minor concerts before Alaric decided to take them under his wing. Their genre was a mix of alt rock, nu metal and alt metal with a splash of Christian rock.

Scrolling down a little bit further she found a picture of the band. She observed the four members interested in this mysterious band. The four of them were sitting on the edge of a small stage – they were probably inside a pub or someplace like that judging by the lights and the furniture she could see – and they were staring directly at the camera.

Starting from the left side there was a young attractive man with short black hair, brown eyes and light olive skin. He had a small mole just under his right eye, near the corner. His lips were curved in a smug smirk that gave him a mischievous air. His entire appearance screamed 'bad boy' and Elena got the impression that he was the typical guy always up for trouble. The caption underneath the picture identified him as Lorenzo St. John.

Right next to him there was a young African-American woman with short wavy black hair that framed a soft heart-shaped face. Her olive green eyes looked hard yet, at the same time, Elena saw something kind in them. She looked like the kind of woman that knew what she wanted and was not afraid to work hard for it, while at the same time being kind to everyone she met, always willing to lend a hand to someone in need of help. Elena looked at the caption of the picture to find her name; Bonnie Bennett.

As soon as she looked at the man next to her, she felt her breath leave her lungs. If she had thought Lorenzo to be attractive then this man was simply drop-dead gorgeous. With tousled jet black hair, the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen and an arrogant smirk curving his lips, he was the physical manifestation of the bad boy all mothers warned their daughters against.

Elena glanced at his name in the caption and learned that he was Damon Salvatore, which meant that the man she had mentally labeled Cocky Guy the day before, now needed to be called Cocky Hot Guy. She found it unfair that _he_ had to be the lead vocalist. How was it possible for a single man to have such and incredible voice and look like _that_?

To distract herself, Elena looked at the last member of the band, Caroline Forbes. She was immediately blinded by the dazzling smile sported by the blonde woman next to Damon. She had a fair complexion, straight blonde hair that fell right beneath her shoulders and happy blue-green eyes that made Elena smile subconsciously. She seemed the kind of person with a bubbly personality that just made everyone around her smile. Elena already liked her.

She looked at a column on the right of the webpage; there was a list of the singles launched by The Nobodies. She highlighted the first title and copied it. She clicked on the small square next to her page tab and opened a new page, immediately loading YouTube. She pasted the title of the song on the search bar and waited. To her surprise, she actually found a lyric video of the song.

She spent the next hour listening to every song she could find and discovered that she actually liked The Nobodies. Damon's voice was simply mesmerizing and his words seemed to touch something deep inside of her. She didn't know how, but she knew that every song spoke of his life, of his feelings and experiences; no one could sing with such intensity and passion if they weren't emotionally involved in their songs.

The same could be said for the other members of the band. Elena didn't play any instrument but her father did and she knew how to recognize the difference between someone who was merely good at playing, and someone who was downright gifted. Caroline and Enzo were simply amazing, the electric guitar and the bass fusing in perfect harmony. And Bonnie, well Bonnie simply rocked her drums in a way that no one could hope to equal.

The more Elena listened to their songs, the more she felt as if she personally knew every member of the band. It was crazy and she knew it, but she couldn't help herself. They put such passion in what they did that she wanted them to reach their goals. She felt glad that a great manager like Alaric Saltzman had decided to work for them; maybe he, like Elena, had realized how rare it was to find young musicians who still put everything they had in their music.

She kept listening to their songs – although she lowered the volume since she knew Stefan would be arriving soon. She went back to the article she had found on them and read it again just to make sure she hadn't missed anything important.

"I can't believe I'm already behaving like an obsessed fangirl," she huffed in an incredulous tone.

It didn't matter though, because she still read the article again and opened another tab to search for anything else regarding The Nobodies. She only found bits and pieces of news on different websites but nothing really relevant.

"Elena, Stefan's here!"

She turned toward the door of her bedroom when she heard her mother shout from downstairs.

"I'm in my room!" she shouted back.

Not a minute later, Stefan stepped inside her room closing the door behind his back. Elena closed the YouTube tab and clicked on the tab for the website where she had found the first article on the Nobodies. She swiveled her chair around to look at her friend.

"Hey, found out anything on your brother in the little time we haven't spent together?" she asked hoping to lighten the mood since he looked downright depressed.

Stefan let himself fall on Elena's bed and stared at the ceiling with hard eyes.

"Nope, nothing." he told her.

"I'm sorry. I know this whole situation is hard for you."

He shrugged his shoulders and turned his head to look at her. He furrowed his brows when he saw the screen of her computer.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing, I was just checking out a band," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "So I was thinking, maybe we could ask Jeremy to dig around and see if he can find anything at all on your brother?"

Stefan didn't look too convinced by her idea. "Do you think he would do that?"

"He will if he doesn't want me to go tell mom and dad that he was hacking into people's accounts again," she said with an evil smile.

"That's cruel of you."

"Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures," she defended herself.

He couldn't argue with that; theirs were really desperate times. It had been months since he had found the photo with his brother in it and they weren't even a step closer to finding him. With every day that passed without news on his brother, Stefan lost hope that he would ever get to see Damon.

Why couldn't his mother understand how important it was for him to find Damon?

It wasn't that Stefan didn't love his little brother and his little sister – God knew he did love them, they were his world – but he had another brother somewhere in the world. A big brother he had never met. A big brother he would have never known he even had, had he not found that picture by pure chance.

What if his big brother was looking for him? What if he too couldn't find a way to contact him? What if they never met and spent their life wondering about the brother they knew they had but couldn't find?

Stefan couldn't imagine spending his life without ever getting to know Damon. He didn't want to look into someone's blue eyes and wonder if he was looking at his brother without even realizing it. That would be too cruel a life for the both of them.

He pulled out his wallet and opened it. He slid out the picture of him and his brother and looked at it again. He almost expected it to have changed since he had last looked at it. His brother was still there, though; he was still hugging a younger version of himself, he was still looking at the baby in the picture with love in his eyes.

"There's nothing in this picture that Jeremy could use to track down Damon," he said knowing he was right.

Elena snatched the picture from his fingers and looked at it, leaning back on her chair. She wasn't stupid, she knew there was nothing that could help them in that picture. They didn't live in a TV-series where her brother could somehow find out where the picture had been taken, simply by recognizing a tree or a house in it.

But what could they do?

Their options were fairly limited. They knew that Julian wasn't Stefan's biological father – his parents had been open about letting him know that Julian had adopted him not fathered him – so that meant that Lily had been married to another man, or at least she had lived with one. The problem was that Lily had never told Stefan where she used to live before coming to Mystic Falls.

Having a precise city to search would have been a great help. With a little coercing – or blackmailing as her brother liked to call it –, Elena could have Jeremy root around in search of any trace left by Lily. With any luck, they would have been able to trace her steps back to the house where she must have been living with her two sons.

Before the whole picture thing, Stefan had tried several times to learn something more about his mom's past. It had been curiosity more than anything else that had made him throw question after question at her, hoping to catch her in a moment of distraction making her slip on the details of her life. Lily, however, had always been more than tight lipped about the whole matter. She never slipped, never voluntarily disclosed anything even remotely tied to her life pre-Mystic Falls.

So they were left with nothing.

"I don't know what to tell you, Stef," Elena said still looking at the picture. "But we can't give up like this. There has to be a way for us to find him, he can't have simply disappeared off the face of the earth! If your mom won't tell us anything, then we have to come up with something on our own. Don't you want to find Damon and tell him that you're his brother?"

Stefan pulled himself up on her bed and looked at her with angry eyes, "Of course I want to see him!" he snapped at her. "I want to get to know him. I want to look in his eyes as tell him that we're brothers and see them lighten up with joy. I want to know if he likes peanut butter as much as I do, if that's a family thing or not. I want to go back in time and get all the years we could have had together back!"

He lowered his voice, fearing that Elena's parents would come upstairs if they heard him shout like that.

"We just have no way to find exactly where he is, Elena," he told her, his voice breaking in anguish. "Even if we give the picture to Jeremy, what do you think he'll be able to do? If there was any indication of where Damon lives in that picture, I can assure you that I would have found it."

He knew that picture like the back of his hand. In the months he'd had it, he'd stared at it every night before going to bed hoping against all hope that he would see something he'd missed, some clue that could get him a step closer to his brother. The only distinctive feature in that picture was the chipped necklace Damon had in his hand. Stefan hadn't even tried suggesting to trace that necklace because there simply had to be thousands, if not millions, of necklaces just like that one.

Elena leaned closer to him and gripped his hand tightly in hers.

"We can't give up," she told him firmly. "I have faith that we will find something if we just keep looking. Did you think it was going to be easy to find your brother? Things like this are never easy; it could take us years before we get the answers we want. But we won't get anywhere if we let ourselves fall into despair."

When she saw how dejected Stefan looked, Elena put the picture down on her desk and sat down next to him on the bed. She hugged him tightly, the same way her mom hugged her when she needed to be comforted, and leaned her head against his shoulder. She tried to offer him as much comfort as she could, hoping that he would see that even if things didn't look good, it wasn't the end yet.

"We'll find him," she murmured. "You'll see."

Stefan raised his hand to grip her forearm. He squeezed it and she smiled at the little sign that he heard her and that he would try his best to have faith. The two of them had always been like that; best friends from the very beginning, communicating best without words, leaning on each other when things got tough.

They stayed like that until Elena's parents asked her to go downstairs because they needed to ask her something.

She stood up, reluctant to leave her friend alone while he still looked a little gloomy.

"I'm going to see what they want and I'll be back in a minute, ok?"

"Don't worry, Elena," he smiled at her to ease her concern. "I'll be fine all alone up here, by myself."

She slapped him playfully on the shoulder.

"Don't be a jerk."

She left the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

Stefan heaved a sigh and buried his face in his hands. He was so tired of everything. He was just an eighteen-year-old guy who had barely finished high school and just wanted to go to college. He had already planned everything years ago; he and Elena would go to college, he would become a kickass architect and Elena would become a journalist or a writer. They would be badass and remain best friends for the rest of their lives.

Instead, he had a mother that had hidden the fact that she had another son somewhere; a mother that wouldn't tell him where to find said brother and that didn't have the decency to be honest with him. On top of that, he was on the search for his elusive brother and only Elena's support kept him from drowning in the hellish situation he was in.

He could barely believe that this was his life. It sounded like he was living in a freaking soap opera. Stuff like this didn't happen to normal people, right? Lying mothers with a double life and missing brothers you never knew you had were stuff coming straight out of a badly written TV-series, right? Life wasn't supposed to be this messy so soon. An eighteen-year-old guy from Mystic Falls, Virginia, was not supposed to go on a wild goose chase for a brother he didn't even know what he looked like.

He rubbed his eyes with two fingers before standing up and walking around the room, looking for something to do. He looked at some old photos Elena had pinned to her mirror; they were pictures of her family and friends. He was present in several of them. He smiled thinking back at all the years the two of them had spent together, all the trouble they had gotten themselves into. He considered himself lucky to have a friend like Elena.

He wondered if his brother had had a happy childhood even though their mother had decided to leave him.

He turned around searching for something to distract himself. His eyes caught the monitor of Elena's computer. She had left it turned on. He sat down at her desk and decided to pass the time playing with the computer; it wouldn't be the first time that Elena let him use it since the two of them had no secrets.

He moved the mouse to turn on the monitor. Instead of the desktop, though, appeared a webpage. Evidently, Elena hadn't bothered to close the tabs before letting him into her bedroom. Stefan moved the mouse pointer to reduce the page to icon, when his eyes scanned the page. He furrowed his brow. Apparently, Elena was checking out some band he had never heard of.

Out of curiosity, he read bits and pieces of the article. It was some kind of rock band named 'The Nobodies' – he rolled his eyes at the name – and they were rapidly becoming a big deal in the music industry. Stefan scrolled down the page to see if there were samples of their music; he didn't particularly care to know about this band, but he usually liked the music Elena listened to so he figured he could at least give this band a chance.

A picture of the band came up. The beautiful blonde smiling widely at the camera immediately caught his eyes. She was truly beautiful and her smile was simply breath-taking; not to mention her eyes. It seemed like everything in hear screamed kindness and liveliness. His eyes slowly moved lower to check her body – he was a teenage boy after all so give him a break – and he subtly nodded in appreciation of her curves.

Suddenly, his eyes slid to the arm wrapped around her shoulders. The man to her right had his arm thrown over her shoulder in a loose hug. Ignoring the hint of jealously he felt at the way that man was touching her – because how ridiculous was it that he felt jealous of someone he didn't even know – he focused on what had caught his attention.

The man was wearing a bracelet that seemed oddly familiar.

Stefan leaned closer to the screen and squinted his eyes. It looked like a simple silver bracelet with a small pendant dangling from its thin chain. Why did that pendant look so familiar? Where had he already seen it? He bended the screen a little to make the picture clearer. If he wasn't wrong, the pendant looked like a musical note.

Stefan sucked in a breath.

"You've got to be kidding me," he whispered.

He frantically looked around for the picture Elena had set down on the table. He grabbed it and looked at the necklace his brother gripped in his small hand. His eyes moved from the picture he held in his hands to the picture on the screen. Maybe he was imagining things but it looked like the pendant on the man's bracelet was chipped just like the one in the picture.

Stefan shut his eyes and took a calming breath. He needed to stay calm because maybe he was just seeing things. Maybe he was so tired of this whole story that his mind was playing tricks on him, making him see things where there weren't any. What were the chances? Was he really basing everything on a chipped pendant?

He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the screen again. Yep, that was definitely a chipped musical note if he had ever seen one. He looked at the man that was hugging the beautiful blonde and his heart stopped. Crystal clear blue eyes stared back at him; the same blue eyes he knew would stare back at him in the picture he was holding in his hands.

Could it really be him? Months of nothing and then this? Was he just trying to convince himself that this was it? Could he believe?

In that moment, Elena came back into the room.

"Sorry about that," she said closing the door behind her. "My mom just wanted to know if I could run some errands for her this afternoon. Apparently, Jeremy is going out with some friends and dad has work to do at the shop. Anyway, where were we?"

Stefan didn't utter a word. He kept staring at the screen without even throwing a glance her way. Elena frowned and stepped closer to him.

"Stefan?" she asked, a little worried at the way her friend was behaving.

Again, he didn't answer her. He just kept staring at her computer, his face white as a sheet. She noticed that the hand that was holding his brother's picture was slightly trembling. She was starting to feel really worried.

"Stefan is everything okay?"

The hint of worry in her voice seemed to rouse him from his trance-like state. He didn't say a word but he did move. Slowly, as if approaching a wild animal, he raised his right hand and pointed at something on the computer screen.

Elena leaned forward to see what had her friend in such a state. Stefan was pointing at the wrist of Damon Salvatore – it seemed she had forgotten to close the tab she had been looking at and Stefan had decided to read about The Nobodies. She couldn't see clearly because of the angle of the screen, but Stefan's finger was pointing at the silver bracelet around Damon's wrist.

She frowned, not sure what was so remarkable about that bracelet.

"I'm not sure I understand," she told him.

His answer left her reeling.

"It's him," he whispered in a small voice. "Elena, I think it's my brother."

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 **What do you think? Loved it? Hated it? Let me know!**


	4. Are We Doing This?

**AN: Here we go with the next chapter! I'm so glad so many of you seem to like this little story of mine, you're all making me so happy! I know you are all eagerly waiting for the moment Damon will appear (trust me, as I was writing I was eager to get to that point too ;)) but these first chapters are necessary to set the whole plot of the story so you'll have to bear with me! I promise it's worth the wait ;)**

 **Since I can't reply directly to you, I wanted to thank the Guest reviewers in this AN. I want you to know how much I appreciate your reviews!**

 **Also, when I started writing this story it was still 2015 so remember that when we talk about specific dates.**

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Chapter 3 - Are We Doing This?

A heavy silence permeated the room. On one side, Stefan believed he had just found the biggest clue ever in the search for his brother, a clue that was more a miracle than anything else. With every second ticking by, his eyes brightened more and more as he stared at the man he was sure was his brother. They had spent months wracking their brains to find something, anything that could point them in the right direction. He had been so close to giving up but now luck had turned their way.

Stefan felt hope bloom in his chest for the first time in months.

On the other side, Elena felt dread pooling in her stomach. She couldn't deny that Damon Salvatore was wearing a bracelet with a pendant remarkably similar to the one in Stefan's picture, but from there to believing that he was actually the man they both had been looking for was quite the stretch. It was just some cruel coincidence that the two had the same pendant; that was the only possible explanation.

She didn't want to burst Stefan's bubble but she had to be the voice of reason in this situation. The truth was that Stefan had been so desperate for any clue, that he was willing to take anything – even something as unsubstantial as a pendant – as proof that the man in the picture was his brother. She understood why he felt that way; she couldn't even imagine how she would behave in his place if the roles had been reversed. What she did know, was that she couldn't let her friend build his hopes up over something so uncertain.

"Okay Stefan, we need to slow down here," she said in a calm voice. "I can admit that the pendants look incredibly similar, but you can't be serious about this. You can't base something so important as your brother over something like a pendant."

Stefan turned to look at her with wide eyes.

"Look, I know that this sounds crazy but it's him! I know it's him!"

Elena opened her mouth to try and make him see reason but Stefan turned toward her computer and pointed at a line in the article.

"Look here," he practically ordered her. "It says here that he was born on July 28 1990, 25 years ago." He pushed the picture of his brother in her hands, tapping it frantically with his index finger. "He was 7-years-old in this picture and I was just born so that means that there is more or less a 7-year age difference between us. It checks. I'm 18 and Damon Salvatore is going to turn 25 in less than a month."

Elena put down the picture with a sigh, ready to try again to make him reason.

"Stefan…"

He pushed the picture back into her hands shaking his head to refuse whatever it was that she wanted to say.

"Look at them!" He pointed at his brother in the picture and scrolled down the webpage to see the adult Damon. "Look at them and tell me you don't see how similar they look. They have the same dark hair, the same pale complexion and the eyes! God Elena, look at their eyes."

"Stefan…" she tried again.

"For God's sake Elena, his name is _Damon_! Are you going to tell that all this is just some kind of freak coincidence? That it's just pure chance that this guy, who looks a lot like an adult version of the boy in that picture, just happens to have my brother's name and his necklace?"

"You don't know that!" she snapped, raising her voice. "Yes, he looks a lot like the adult your brother might be, but do you have any idea how many dark-haired, blue-eyed, white men there are in the U.S.? Not to mention the world?"

Stefan looked at her with hard eyes but she kept talking before he could interrupt her. She needed to make him understand how small the chances were of Damon Salvatore actually being his brother.

"I know that you want to find him, but we can't just assume that the first guy named Damon who vaguely resembles the features of a seven-year-old boy is your brother." She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "We need to be reasonable about this thing, Stef."

Elena moved a step closer to her friend and reached out to rest a comforting hand on his shoulder. Stefan jumped out of the chair to avoid her touch, turning his back on her. Elena stayed still and watched him pace back and forth in front of her. She didn't say anything hoping he would calm down and see that she was right.

Stefan turned toward her and opened his mouth to speak. At the last moment, he seemed to rethink his decision and tuned his back on her again, going back to his pacing. Elena waited patiently, moving her weight from one leg to the other.

Finally, Stefan seemed ready to talk.

He held up a hand between them and spoke in a calm voice that betrayed how upset he was.

"You know what I don't get?" he asked her. "Not even a minute ago, you were going on about how I couldn't give up because you were sure that, one way or another, I was going to find my brother. And now that I've actually found a possible trail that could lead me to him, you're going to tell me that I need to calm down?"

His voice had steadily risen during his speech and by the end, had almost reached shouting level.

Elena rubbed her mouth with her hand to keep herself from shouting back at him. She couldn't believe that he was being so pig-headed about all this. Now, he wanted to make it look like she was the one who was behaving irrationally. Well, she certainly wasn't the one saying that a rising rock star was her brother.

"Okay, you need to listen to me because I am not going to repeat myself," she said trying to reign in her emotions. "I did say that I believe we will find him and I wasn't lying, but that doesn't mean that I think a random guy who happens to have a pendant, that may or may not be like the one in your picture, is a good enough reason to say he is your brother."

"Why not?" Stefan asked her with an air of defiance.

"Why not?" she repeated in disbelief. "I don't know, Stefan; maybe because it's simply crazy to think something like that and the chances of Damon Salvatore actually being your brother are so low that they can't even be calculated?"

Stefan wasn't deterred by her stinging sarcasm.

"What if he is my brother, and you're the one who's wrong?"

Elena bent her head to the side and looked at him as if she was speaking to a little kid.

"Did you not hear what I just said?"

"I don't care about chances and stuff like that," he snapped at her. "I'm asking you, what if he really is my brother. What are you going to do then?"

"Nothing. 'Cause he isn't," she hissed.

"Why are you so bent on shooting me down without even considering that I might be right?" he insisted.

"Because you clearly aren't thinking this through and maybe it's because you're so fed up with not having a clue, that you're ready to believe anything as long as it suits your purpose and to hell with actually using your brain!" she said all in one breath.

Stefan took a step back as if her words had physically hit him. He looked at her in silence, finding it hard to believe that his best friend was so against the idea that maybe he had found his brother. She was the one that was supposed to be on his side; she was supposed to support him and help him. That was exactly what she had done since he had found out he had an estranged brother and now that he was actually getting a step closer to him, she turned her back on him.

He shook his head, suddenly feeling disappointed and hurt. He turned and started to walk out of her bedroom.

Elena followed closely behind him.

"Stefan, where are you going?" she asked him as they stepped in the hallway.

"I'm getting out of here."

They went down the stairs and Stefan made a beeline for the front door, never even glancing back at his friend.

"Stefan, stop let's talk about this."

At last he turned.

"There's nothing to talk about," he told her without a hint of animosity. "You made your opinion perfectly clear. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going out for a walk."

Elena tried to put herself between him and the door, but Stefan moved faster. He had the door open before she could stop him and he was out a moment later. She followed him on the front porch and tried one last time to make him stop and look at her.

"Come on, don't do this. Let's just talk this through," she tried to coax him into staying.

He ignored her and descended the porch steps.

"Don't follow me," he said without turning.

Elena crossed her arms over her chest and watched him walk away. She was sure in a moment he would realize how stupid he was being, he would turn back and apologize for the scene he just pulled. When he kept walking without turning back, she realized he actually intended to keep up the act.

"Fine," she shouted at him. "Be that way! See if I care."

She pressed her lips together in a thin line and watched his retreating back for another second, before turning on her heels and walking back inside her house. She slammed the door closed behind her and started to walk up the stairs to close herself in her room. When she was halfway up, she heard her mother calling her.

"Elena what happened? Did Stefan leave?"

Elena stopped and leaned over the railing to look down at her mom.

"Yeah, he just left," she answered in a clipped voice.

"Why? Did something happened? He seemed quite upset." Her mom rested a hand on her hip and tilted her head to the side, looking up at Elena with narrowed eyes. "Did something happen between the two of you?"

Elena shook her head with a tight smile plastered on her lips. "Nothing happened, he just felt like being a jerk."

"Watch your language, Elena," Miranda told her daughter before staring intently at her. "Are you sure nothing happened?"

Elena sighed and shook her head. "I'm sure, mom. He was just having a bad day, nothing more."

Her mother nodded, giving her daughter her space. "Alright, if you say everything is okay then I'm not getting involved."

Elena nodded at her and turned to get to her room. She closed the door behind her, not in the mood to talk to anyone, and let herself fall into bed face first. She remained still going over everything that had just happened with Stefan. She didn't know why he had gotten angry when she had urged him to think more rationally. She had been in the right and she had been sure he would have realized it. Clearly, she had been wrong.

Elena rolled onto her back and slung an arm over her eyes.

She wasn't going to apologize to him. She didn't do anything wrong, he was the one who had behaved like a Neanderthal, storming off when things didn't go the way he wanted them to. She would stay right where she was and wait for him to crawl back admitting he had been a jerk. They would make up and go back to thinking about the brother-thing rationally.

Elena nodded to herself, satisfied by her plan.

And yet, why did she feel an uncomfortable weight settling on her stomach? She couldn't help but wonder if maybe she had been a bit too brutal in shutting him down. She could have been more tactful, especially since he had been so excited at the prospect of a solid lead.

She huffed moving her arm away from her eyes. She glared at the ceiling, admitting to herself that she was partly to blame for what had happened. A change of plan was of the essence. She couldn't swallow her pride so easily so she would still wait for him to come back. If he didn't come back before 3pm, however, she would go out and look for him.

Now that things had been settled, she stood up and walked to her computer with the intention of playing some video games to pass the time. She sat at her desk and stared at the picture of The Nobodies on her screen.

"Ugh," she grumbled. "This is all your fault, you know?"

Damon Salvatore stared back at her in all his silent glory. Realizing how ridiculous she must have looked talking to a picture on her computer, Elena closed the page on The Nobodies and pushed back all thoughts regarding her new favorite band.

She had some time to kill before making up with her best friend.

~.~

Stefan stormed out of Elena's house possessed by the kind of anger mixed with frustration that one didn't want to unleash on their best friend. He knew he wouldn't be able to work his way rationally through their argument so he decided to leave, before saying something he was sure he would come to regret.

He thought about going back home and locking himself in his room, but wrote that option off when he remembered the epic fight his brother and sister had been locked in when he left an hour before. He really didn't want to leave a fight to get right back in on another.

Home was definitely not an option.

The Grill had to be discarded too. Apart from the fact that he was sure to end up surrounded by his former classmates – he didn't hate them but he really wasn't in the mood for stupid jokes and talks about the future –, Elena was going to look for him there if she decided she wasn't done with their conversation. Since Elena was the last person he wanted to see, he needed to find some other place where he could let some steam off.

As he reached the square, the clock tower rang twelve times signaling that it was getting close to lunchtime. On the spur of the moment, Stefan walked inside the Grill and went straight for the bar. He bought a couple of sandwiches and a Coke and left as quickly as he had walked in. He knew exactly where he could go to be alone for a little while.

He walked across the square and made his way toward the road that led out of the city. When he reached the sign 'You're leaving Mystic Falls', he turned to the left and walked along a thin path that led deep in the woods.

Twenty minutes later, he had reached his little haven.

Nested high in the trees amid two old and twisted oaks, there was the tree-house he and Elena had found when they were kids. It was their treasure, an honest to goodness, small wooden house –complete with rope-bridge leading to a small platform a tree over – big enough for the two of them to stand in without bending. It had been a wreck when they had found it, barely hanging to the trees. They had started working on it anytime they could.

Of course, two kids such as they had been at the time really didn't know anything about fixing a tree-house; hence the broken bones they both sported once and that prompted their parents to fix the house for them.

Stefan climbed the wooden steps nailed to the oak's trunk and heaved himself up inside the house. He put down his lunch on the roughly built table right to the left of the hatch, and set to tidy up a bit. He swept up the magazines he and Elena had left on the floor last time they had been there, and put them in a neat pile on the circular shelf around the oak's trunk.

Next were the schoolbooks still open on the desk against a corner of their house. As he closed them and put them away, he remembered the long hours he had spent with Elena studying their asses off for those final tests that were to decide the rest of their lives. They had helped each other out as they always did and always would.

He pushed those thoughts away and reached for his lunch. He sat down on the spacious windowsill that faced toward the falls in the distance. Although the falls were too far and not visible from the location of the house, they could still be heard.

Stefan munched on his sandwich listening to the quiet and steady rumbling of the water. His mind was finally blissfully empty.

With the calm around him, it dawned on him how he had messed things up with Elena. Granted, he knew there was an easy fix to his honest mistake, but it bothered him that their discussion had escalated so quickly. He and Elena rarely got to the point when one would walk out on the other; they preferred to deal with their problems instead of avoiding them. That's exactly what he had done, walked away from his problems as if that would magically solve them.

Stefan took a sip of his Coke and kept munching on his sandwich.

He knew that he had been the one in the wrong. Elena had just tried to make him see how delirious he had been in thinking that some random guy named Damon could actually be his brother. To be honest, Stefan wasn't all that ready to abandon that idea. Stranger things happened all the time, right? That wasn't the point, however. The point was that he shouldn't have taken his frustration out on his best friend.

If this whole searching for his brother thing was going to turn him into an insensible idiot that mistreated his friend, maybe he'd be better off not knowing where Damon was. Stefan had to admit that his home situation wasn't the greatest since the famous debacle a few months prior.

He sighed and finished his lunch wishing Elena was there with him to tell him not to abandon all hope. Instead, he was alone in the woods with no one to help him. Served him right.

He remained silent, listening to the sound of the rustling leaves around him and the falls somewhere far in the distance.

At some point, he heard footsteps approaching the tree. Since campers seldom treaded in that part of the woods, he figured Elena had decided to find him to make him apologize to her. His suspicion was confirmed when he heard the creaking sound of the wooden steps leading to the hatch.

Stefan turned just in time to see Elena heave herself up onto the wooden floor. He remained silent, not knowing whether to apologize immediately or wait for her to set the pace of their next conversation.

Elena stood up and dusted herself off. She walked over to him and sat down next to him on their windowsill.

"I knew you'd be here," she told him. "Every time you get angry you come here and do nothing until you've calmed down."

"I wasn't angry," he argued.

"Could have fooled me," she said with a raised eyebrow.

"I wasn't angry with you," he corrected himself raising his hands and letting them fall on his thighs in a helpless gesture. "I had a fight with my mom last night. Same thing as always; I asked her to tell me where my brother was, she refused and we got into a fight."

He threw the empty can of Coke toward the little bin in the corner. The can hit the edge of the bin and fell to the floor, the metallic clang it produced the only sound in the woods.

"I don't know why I wasted my time asking her something I knew she had no intention of telling me."

Elena remained silent, pondering how to approach the tender subject of Stefan's brother without things escalating like that morning. Now that she knew of the fight between Stefan and his mother, their argument that morning became much more understandable. Stefan had never been good at dealing with tension and stress – when finals had approached them during their last year of high school, she had had to work hard to keep him from snapping like a rubber band.

Fighting with one's mother was never something one enjoyed, and Stefan, who had always had a close and trusting relationship with Lily, was probably suffering more than others thanks to the chasm opened between them by Lily's reticence to talk about her other son.

Elena honestly didn't understand why she didn't want to talk about Damon. At first, she had thought it was a matter of shame; maybe Lily couldn't face the fact that she had abandoned her son and created a whole new family while he lived who knew where. But even then, Elena couldn't imagine keeping such an enormous secret within her without cracking beneath its weight.

It was one thing if she didn't want to search for Damon, but Stefan had all the rights in the world in wanting to meet his brother.

The only thing Elena could understand was the fear of Stefan getting hurt. No doubt, Lily knew that finding Damon would open up a can of worms that no one felt ready to deal with; lots of questions would need to be answered if Damon were to come back into the lives of Lily and Stefan. Finding his long-lost brother would change everything in Stefan's life and Elena wasn't sure that those changes would all be positive.

"You're awfully quiet."

Stefan's voice wrenched her out of her thoughts.

She shook her head. "Just trying to find a way to talk about your brother without you getting on the defensive and shutting me out."

Stefan didn't miss the subtle jab she sent his way.

"I told you I wasn't really angry at you."

"And I get it, Stefan," she told him firmly. "I get that you want to find him, that you feel like you have to especially since your mom won't tell you anything about him. But I think that this would be a big mistake."

Even though he had told himself that it wasn't right to take his frustration out on Elena, Stefan couldn't help but feel himself getting angry again.

"You're supposed to be on my side," he said in a calm voice trying to reign in his anger.

"Again, I am," she stated. "I just don't want you to dive into this thing head first getting hurt in the process. Finding your brother is not worth you destroying yourself in the process."

Stefan took a deep breath. If they kept going like this, they were going to have a repeat of that morning's debacle. He needed to make her understand his reasons, his need to find him and set things right.

"This is not just about Damon," he said quietly. "Ever since I found out about him, it's like this hole opened up in my life. Where I was happy and sure that I was living a perfect life with a perfect family, I now feel as if I've been living a lie."

Elena frowned and slid closer to him, worry pooling inside her. "What are you talking about?"

"There aren't all that many options that could explain why Damon isn't living with us," he said, his voice breaking a little when he pronounced his brother's name. "The way I see it, either something happened that made it impossible for the three of us to live together or my mom decided to leave her seven-year-old son behind on purpose."

Elena lowered her eyes at his words. It wasn't that she had never thought about that; when Stefan had told her about his brother, her first thought had been ' _did Lily abandon him?_ '. She had decided to keep that thought to herself because she really didn't know how Stefan would be able to deal with the possibilities it opened.

To think that Stefan had been torturing himself with those thoughts for all that time…

Elena slowly met her friend's weary gaze.

"I just don't want you to get hurt, Stef."

Stefan smiled sadly, "I don't need you to protect me, Elena. I need you to stay by my side and help me see this through." He spoke with a gentleness that made her feel stupid for thinking that she could somehow keep him from doing what he wanted to do. "I know that the chances of Damon Salvatore being my brother are probably nonexistent, but I'm willing to take this risk. It there is even _one_ chance that he is my brother, I owe it to the both of us to find him and piece together the whole story."

Elena looked him deep in the eye and saw determination in them, the sort of unwavering determination that told her he wasn't going to regret this decision. No matter what happened, no matter how things would change, he had made up his mind. Nothing she said or did would stop him.

She heaved a sigh. "As your friend it is my job to make you see reason when it seems like you're about to do something incredibly stupid. But…" she added when he opened his mouth. "…it's also my job to tag along whenever it's clear that you're _definitely_ going to do something incredibly stupid. That way I can at least make sure you don't end up somewhere dead in a ditch."

Stefan looked at her with a tentative smile. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

She rolled her eyes and smiled at him. "I will help you track down this Damon Salvatore to see if he is your brother."

Stefan leaned forward and wrapped her in his arms, relieved that he'd have his best friend on his side. It felt like things were finally right again.

"You're the best," he told her pulling back from the hug.

"You know it."

"Are you sure you're not doing this just because you're obsessing over 'The Unknowns'?"

Elena gasped in mocked hurt. "First of all, the name is 'The Nobodies'. Second, I'm not obsessing, I just happen to like some of their songs."

"More like _all_ their songs." He laughed at the way she defended herself.

She fake punched him while laughing together with him. "Stop it! You should be thankful that I decided to help you find your brother, not mocking me for my musical tastes!"

Stefan just laughed even more at her words. It was incredible how not even five minutes before they were still on the verge of arguing, and now they were already back to the easy friendship that had always been there since the beginning.

When he finally managed to choke back his laughter, Stefan looked at Elena and waited for her to sober up before saying what he needed to say.

"I do thank you, you know?"

Elena couldn't help but blush a little at his words. She was never entirely comfortable with open displays of affection; they made her feel self-conscious and like the other person could actually see how touched she was by their words.

"I was kidding; you don't need to thank me." She moved a lock of hair behind her ear.

"I do need to. I've been insufferable and you've always been there to listen to me rant about my mom and everything. Most people probably would have told me to shut up after three seconds," he chuckled.

Elena shrugged her shoulders, already feeling more at ease thanks to way Stefan made light of the situation.

"I'm your friend, you're not going to get rid of me so easily. Plus, now you owe me countless hours of listening to my problems when the time comes."

"Deal."

The two bumped fists to seal the deal like they always did when they struck a deal between them.

"Now, we only need to figure out how to meet Damon."

He leaned his back against the side of the windowsill and looked outside. He tried to think of a way for him to meet the lead singer of a rock band and came up blank. True, 'The Nobodies' were still a practically unknown band but it still wouldn't be easy to get to them. Maybe they could go to one of their concerts – they probably had a couple of small gigs they would attend – and then try to sneak backstage.

He felt Elena shift beside him and turned to look at her.

"What?"

She looked at him with a smug smile.

"I kind of know how we could get to him."

Stefan lowered his eyes with a shook of his head. "Of course you know."

Elena nudged him with her foot. "Don't sass me. Besides, I only know how we could get near him but I have no idea how we could actually get to speak to him."

"Well," he ran his fingers through his neatly combed hair. "Let's hear what you have in mind and then we can work from there."

"It was actually my parents that gave me the idea," she told him. "They asked me this morning if you and I were going to go on a road-trip before going to college and I told them we still have time to decide. During lunch, as I was thinking about ways to patch things up between us, I realized that maybe that was the solution."

Stefan narrowed his eyes understanding what she was getting at. "You want us to go on a road-trip to find my brother?"

Elena leaned toward him and tried to sell her idea. "Think about it, it's the perfect solution. We have to get away from this town if we want to meet Damon Salvatore and you don't want your mom to figure out you've been trying to find your brother all this time. We tell our parents that we're going to tour the States and instead we go find Damon so you can meet him and find out if he's your brother!"

Stefan didn't look too convinced. Theoretically, the plan could work; both his and Elena's parents had nothing to say against the two of them going on a road-trip before college.

"I don't know Elena," he told her. "How are we even going to find him if we don't know where he lives?"

Elena didn't seem too concerned about that. "We can figure that out later."

"Lena…"

"Look," she interrupted him. "They're still a small band, right? It's not like they're going on a world-tour anytime soon. Quite the contrary, actually. In all probability, they'll have some small gigs or even a concert here in the States."

"And you think we can go to one of these concerts?"

She nodded her head decisively. "Yeah. We do a little research on the Internet – maybe I can ask Jer for some help – and then we tell our parents that we would like to go on a little tour. We take your car and we hit the road!"

"That's it?"

"That's it."

Stefan stared at her completely stunned. She was absolutely serious about this plan; she really wanted to take him all the way to Damon Salvatore just so he could know if he really was his brother. Things had really escalated quickly since that morning.

"Not even an hour ago you thought I was crazy for believing Damon could be my brother," he said in a last attempt to stop Elena from planning the whole trip. "And now you actually want to go look for him?"

"I still think your theory is crazy," she told him bluntly. "But, I don't see why we shouldn't give this whole thing a try. Aren't these the years where we're supposed to do crazy things before we get too old and die of boredom?"

"But…" he tried to protest.

"Stefan, why are you trying to find reasons not to go with me? Isn't this what you wanted?"

Why was he trying to get out of this?

She was right this was his chance. Things may end up blowing up in his face but even then, this might be his only shot at finding his brother. He had asked her to be on his side and now she was offering to go all the way to Damon with him. He needed to pull himself together and see this through.

He swallowed heavily and threw Elena a hesitant smile. "We're really doing this, then?"

She smiled brightly at him. "We so are!"

* * *

 **Liked it? We're getting closer and closer to Damon!**


	5. We're Definitely Doing This

**AN: And here we are, the road-trip is finally happening! I've got great news for you, Damon will finally make his appearance in the next chapter but it in this one you'll find out more about him and the rest of The Nobodies!**

 **Thank you all as always, and enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 4 - We're Definitely Doing This

Stefan observed as the cashier threw bags of chips and a six-pack of sodas inside the plastic bag on the counter. While the man calculated how much everything was going to cost, Stefan looked around. They had stopped at a gas station just out of Providence to buy some food and fill the tank. To be honest, Stefan had really needed to stretch his legs while Elena went to the bathroom. They had been driving nonstop for hours and the traffic had been just awful.

The gas station was completely empty save for a woman in her thirties and her kid, leaving him with nothing to look at. For some reason the place was really creeping him out, the way an empty shop creeps you out when you're the only one inside and the sun is setting slowly, giving the sky that peculiar orangey tinge that makes the world look unreal.

He rocked on his heels and gave the cashier a tight-lipped smile while he waited for the man to tell him how much he had to pay.

"That'll be $35.25," the cashier grunted pushing the plastic bag toward him.

Stefan quickly pulled out his wallet and handed the man two twenties. When the man handed him the change, he quickly stuffed it in his jacket's pocket before grabbing the plastic bag from the counter.

When he reached the door, he turned around.

"Excuse me, how far is Boston from here?"

The cashier rubbed his jaw and looked at him with the tired eyes of a man who just couldn't wait to go home and relax. "It's not far. You can get there in an hour if you don't get stuck into traffic. Just keep following the 95 and then take the 93 north of Canton; it'll save you a lot of time."

Stefan threw him a small smile. "Thank you, sir."

After a thankful nod in the direction of the man, he turned around and went through the door. As he walked toward where he had left the car, he saw Elena waiting for him sitting Indian-style on top of the hood of the car. She was looking intently at a map she had splayed over her lap, muttering to herself as she traced possible routes they could take.

The dying light of the sun setting on the horizon made her hair look like it was on fire. The gentle breeze of the upcoming evening kept blowing her hair in her face and as he observed her, she reached out with her hand to pull a lock of brown hair out of her mouth. In the process, she adjusted the pair of sunglasses she had put on.

She was so focused on what she was doing that she didn't even noticed when he stopped right beside her. Stefan took advantage of the opportunity and reached inside the plastic bag for the bag of chips she had asked him to buy. Elena jumped up when the bag of chips fell on top of her map.

"Ah!" she gasped turning toward him.

Stefan laughed out loud at her shocked expression.

"You're such a jerk!" she tried to kick him from where she was perched on the hood of the car.

"I'm sorry but I just had to do it," Stefan said avoiding her kicks and punches while still laughing.

"Ha-ha, you're so funny," she grumbled taking off her sunglasses and putting them on top of her hair. She threw him a sidelong glance through narrowed eyes before turning.

She picked up the map and gave it a sharp shake to straighten it up. "While you were paying for our stuff, I was trying to decide which road to take."

Stefan moved closer to her now that she had calmed down. "I took care of it. I asked the cashier and he told me to take the 95 and then switch to the 93."

Elena turned to look at him, a little upset by the fact that he had already managed to find the right way to their destination.

"Are you sure the cashier was right?"

Stefan reached inside the plastic bag and pulled out a soda. "Yeah, he said that if we take that road we could get to Boston in an hour tops." He told her opening his soda and taking a long gulp. Man, driving for so many hours really made him thirsty.

"Just in time for dinner," she said.

Stefan nodded at her, drinking his soda before they had to get back on the road.

"Then we could stay in the night and wake up early to start our search for Damon Salvatore," she continued.

"That'd be the plan, yeah."

"Alright, then."

Elena jumped off the hood and moved to the passenger side of the car. She slipped in and waited for Stefan to finish drinking. While she waited, she checked her phone and noticed a missed call from her mother. She decided to call her back right that moment so as not to make her worry. She brought the cellphone to her ear and listened to the dial tone. On the fourth ring, her mom picked up.

" _Elena?"_

"Hey, mom. I saw you called, what's going on?" Elena answered.

" _Nothing, honey. I just wanted to check up on you,"_ was her mother's response.

Stefan had finished his soda and was walking to the trashcan to toss it away. Five seconds later, he opened the door on the driver side and slid in. He inserted the key in the ignition and turned it. The car came to life with a gentle purr. As Stefan focused on driving, Elena concentrated back on her mother's phone call.

" _So where are you right now?"_

"We're just outside of Boston. We were thinking maybe we could stay there for a couple of days before moving over to Pennsylvania or something." Elena lied keeping up the pretense of the road-trip.

Stefan threw her a look as if checking on her. She waved him off in a silent gesture for him not to worry.

" _Elena listen, I have to go now; work is calling me. Be safe, okay? And tell Stefan I said hi!"_

"Okay, mom. Have a nice day. Or evening, I guess."

Elena pressed the button to end the call and stuffed her phone back in her pocket. When she turned around, she saw Stefan looking at her from the corner of his eye.

"What?" she asked.

Stefan shook his head and kept his hands firmly on the steering wheel. "Nothing, just…do you think your mother suspects anything?"

She shrugged her shoulder and leaned forward to retrieve her laptop from where she had left it by her feet.

"Nah, I don't think she suspects anything. Why would she? She has no reason to think we're up to something." She looked at him as she pressed the on-button on her laptop. "Why? You think your mom is suspecting something?"

Stefan shook his head rapidly. "No, no. Last time we spoke, everything seemed normal. I was just curious that's all. You know how this whole secret trip makes me feel on edge."

Elena focused back on her laptop punching in her password to get to the desktop. "Well, you don't need to worry. Everything is proceeding smoothly and you just need to keep your cool and focus on getting to Boston. Let me handle the rest, okay?" She said without moving her eyes from her laptop.

Stefan spared her a glance. He had to admit that when it came to lying through her teeth when she was doing something her parents would frown upon Elena had a special talent. Not that Stefan was a hopeless case when it came to keeping his story straight. Sometimes though, the pressure of lying was too much and he tended to get confused, which led to slip ups, which led to being grounded for weeks.

Thank goodness Elena was a stone in these contexts.

"There's a traffic signal over there." He told her quietly.

"Oh!" She jumped in her seat. "I totally forgot about that."

Elena wiggled in her seat to slide her phone out of her pocket. She turned in her seat and snapped a selfie making sure the sing indicating that Boston was less than 70 miles away could be seen. She sat back correctly and checked the picture. It wasn't exactly a masterpiece but it would do for what she had in mind.

She opened WhatsApp and tapped on the group conversation with her parents. She loaded the picture she had just taken and titled it 'getting closer and closer to Boston!'. With a quick movement of her finger, she sent the text before closing the app.

"There," she said with a satisfied smile. "Now you can be certain that mom won't have a single doubt on where we are."

Stefan snorted lightly, a smile curving his lips. Elena was enjoying their whole secret mission way too much. She had taken it upon herself to provide pictures as incontrovertible evidence that the two of them were doing exactly what they had told their parents they were doing.

Convincing their parents to let them go on that road-trip had been surprisingly easy. Elena's parents had only been a little surprised by the suddenness of her request. Just that morning Elena had told them that she and Stefan had yet to talk about what they were going to do that summer, and not even a day later, she had come up with the idea of the road-trip.

Her parents had asked her if something had happened between her and Stefan that had spurred this need to travel, but Elena had managed to convince them that the two of them had simply decided it was time for them to see the world outside of Mystic Falls.

After a somewhat uncertain look exchanged between her parents, she had received permission to do as she pleased. Grayson had only asked her to help him finish the anniversary project at the shop before leaving town. Elena had figured it was a reasonable request and had agreed to her dad's condition.

Stefan had been afraid that things were going to be harder on his side. To his surprise, both Lily and Julian had quickly given him their blessing to go on his road-trip with Elena. Stefan had looked at them as though his parents had grown another head.

It had been with a heavy heart that he had realized they were just glad he would not be around to ask any more questions about Damon. That realization had brought a fresh wave of anger directed at the both of them, an anger that Stefan wished he could have unleashed on them that same day.

Thankfully, he had managed to restrain himself lest he got himself grounded, thereby screwing his and Elena's plan to find Damon.

That evening, as the two friends told each other their parents' reaction to the news of the road-trip, Stefan had listened as Elena enlisted her brother's help to find out if The Nobodies had any concert planned in the States. Jeremy had refused to help them in the beginning, but his stance had changed when Elena had threatened him with what their parents were going to do once they found out he had hacked into his classmate's Facebook profile again.

Stefan had waited with baited breath as he heard the sound of fingers rapidly moving over a keyboard. Not five minutes later, Elena read out loud for him what the two Gilberts had found out. Apparently, The Nobodies were going to participate in a relatively small concert in Boston in three weeks. The location was a disused theatre turned into a bar/concert hall for emerging bands in the Boston area.

Stefan had asked her if there were still tickets to the event and Elena had told him that there were still a few free places. They had immediately decided to buy two tickets, just to be safe.

After telling her brother to keep his mouth shut about the concert, Elena had retreated into her room. She and Stefan had then planned their next move. Elena had to stay and help her father with his project, something she estimated would take 4 days, a week max to finish. That left them with two weeks to get to Boston. More than enough time, since they didn't exactly plan to lose themselves sightseeing.

And so six days later – amid their parents' recommendations to be careful and not do anything too stupid – the two had left Mystic Falls behind them.

They had spent their whole first day in Washington – the fact that they didn't want to spend too much time sightseeing didn't mean that they weren't going to actually visit some places – where they decided to stop and enjoy the city.

They did some of the typical touristy things, like visit the Smithsonian and the White House; take a stroll along the Potomac while eating ice-cream. They stopped for the obligatory visit at the Lincoln Memorial and then quickly paid their respect at the Vietnam and Korea memorials.

They found a quaint little place to eat and found a small hotel where to spend the night. To save some money, they decided to simply rent a double. It wasn't the first time the two shared a room – to be honest to them it felt a lot like sharing their space with a sibling – but Elena decided to lay down some ground rules to avoid any possible embarrassing moments.

The following day, they decided to spend the morning walking through the city just to enjoy the every day life in Washington. After lunch, they hopped in Stefan's car – this time Elena offered to drive in his place – and got on the road.

In an hour and a half, they were in Baltimore where they decided to spend the rest of the day. Elena insisted that they visit the museum dedicated to Babe Ruth being the huge baseball fan she was. Stefan never cared too much for sports but he figured that since Elena was following him in the craziest idea the two had ever had, the least he could do was visit a museum dedicated to a baseball player.

The following day they got into their car late in the morning and sped off in direction of Philadelphia. They were counting on reaching the city in a couple of hours, three at most, but ended up spending the better part of their day stuck in the traffic thanks to an accident on the 95.

They reached Philadelphia late in the evening and decided to simply eat something, find a motel and call it a night.

They decided to dedicate the following day to visiting the city since they still had a week and a half before The Nobodies' concert in Boston.

In the morning, they went and visited the statue in honor of Rocky and took turns in taking pictures on the famous steps not far from it. The afternoon was dedicated to simply enjoying the city with a quick trip to the Liberty Bell.

Stefan's only request was to spend the night at the Symphony Hall to assist to a classical music concert. Elena ended up tuning out most of it as she wasn't a big fan of classical music, but she had to admit that the experience had been a pleasant one to add to her memories.

They decided to stay clear of New York – they had both already been there – and the hellhole that was driving in that city. They resolved to take a large detour that saw them passing through smaller cities in the area before making their way toward Providence.

Elena had to say that she enjoyed that part of the trip more than the previous ones. This time, instead of staying in city hotels, they got to crash on small, old motels along the road enjoying the full road-trip experience she had been striving to live. Sometimes they even drove at night, stopping along deserted roads to lie on the hood of the car and watch the stars above them.

Yes, she had really enjoyed the quiet of the night.

She could tell Stefan had too. The more they drove, the more she saw him relax and go back to the lively funny guy he had been before the stress and the anger over his family situation had started to weigh on him.

In the middle of all their sightseeing, they both tried to find as much as they could on The Nobodies. They scoured the Internet in search of anything even remotely connected to the band, but there was very little on them. The first mention of them was a small article of three years before. The band had participated in a small concert right in Philadelphia and while they had been praised for their performance, there was nothing more on them.

The most recent news on them were all to be attributed to the fact that Alaric Saltzman had taken an interest in them. Whenever the man took an interest in a band or a singer, usually one could find a full detailed biography on the artists in question by the end of the week. That was how good the man was in promoting his protégées.

This time, however, there was relatively little on the band. There were plenty of news on what concerts they were going to participate in, or what activity they had planned or had participated in to promote themselves. There were then the usual things like places of birth, birthdays and interests but there was nothing personal; no academic careers, no mentions of sports any of the members might have participated in and, most important of all, no mentions of families.

It was like none of the members had a life prior to the creation of their band.

Needless to say, the lack of information was really bothering the two young adults. Knowing some more details of Damon's life could have made it easier for them to gauge whether there was a chance he was actually the man they were looking for. While Stefan was pretty much determined to walk up to the man and simply start with the questioning, Elena didn't feel particularly keen on the idea of marching into a situation she didn't know how would turn out.

"Listen, do you mind if I play some music?" She asked Stefan as she opened an Internet page.

Stefan shrugged his shoulders as best as he could while keeping a firm grip on the steering wheel. "I don't mind."

Elena double-clicked onto her music player and selected the most recent playlist she had created. She turned the volume low as the first notes of the song started to play. Now that she had her background noise, Elena turned back to the Internet page she had opened a moment earlier.

"Seriously, Elena? Again with this playlist? Aren't you tired of listening to The Nobodies?"

She didn't even bother to glance at him too busy clicking on every site that looked even remotely promising in her search.

"I happen to genuinely like their music so no, I'm not tired of listening to them." She replied, slowly humming along with Damon.

Stefan shook his head in disbelief.

Since the start of their road-trip, Elena had been listening to the same 10 songs from The Nobodies. Now, Stefan could agree that the band actually made good music; he himself liked 6 out of the 10 singles they had released. Elena, however, was on a whole new level. She knew by heart every single song and if he wasn't convinced that she was doing all this to help him find his brother, he would have believed that she was the band's number 1 fan just craving to meet her idols.

He threw her a quick glance and saw her engrossed in what she was reading, her lips moving to form the lyrics of the song playing softly in the background.

"What are you reading?"

"I'm just looking around in this forum Jeremy told me to visit; it's dedicated to less known rock-bands." She answered distractedly.

He furrowed his brows. "You asked Jeremy for help? What if he tells your mother and then she tells mine and then everything is screwed?"

He could already feel the palm of his hands getting sweaty. He adjusted his grip on the steering wheel.

"Nah, he won't say anything." Elena didn't seem minimally concerned. "I think he sees all this searching around for information on a barely-known band, as a test of his computer skills. He just loves a challenge."

For the next five minutes, the only sound filling the car was Damon's voice and the light clicking of Elena typing on her laptop.

The forum her brother had advised her to look into was supposed to be dedicated to small bands; the purpose of the entire site was to start building fanbases for the less known bands with the hope that they would start to get famous. As far as Elena could see, the only ones using the forum were creepy guys – probably even girls – looking for someone to hook-up with.

She had lost count of the number of posts where the user asked if there was anyone living near him that wanted to meet up. Seriously, did this kind of thing actually work? She couldn't imagine wanting to meet a complete stranger just 'cause she was feeling horny; then again, she actually liked to use her head instead of careening through life consequences be damned.

She was about to leave the site to search somewhere else, when a particular post caught her attention.

Someone – username: Silk Heart – had written a long post where they analyzed one of the songs from The Nobodies. It was quite an in-depth analysis too, showing that whoever Silk Heart was, they were clearly great fans of the band. Elena read the text slowly, agreeing on some points but finding herself strongly disagreeing on the meaning of the song.

She checked if Silk Heart was online and mentally cheered when a little green dot appeared next to the username, indicating that it was indeed online. Elena quickly registered to the forum and set on writing an answer to Silk Heart.

 _I just read your post and it is simply amazing. I agree that Caroline was simply incredible on her solo, but can we talk about the way Lorenzo totally challenged her when he started to play together with her? I have no words. As you so eloquently wrote, Damon was simply out of this world. I can honestly say that his voice has nothing to envy to the greatest singers the rock music has had in its history._

 _I do have to disagree on the meaning of the song, though. To me, it doesn't seem like he is saying that he has sworn off love for the sake of protecting himself after he has been betrayed by the one he loved. I think he is instead saying that, since his heart has already been broken once, he can't take too much pain again. I think he is asking a possible future lover to please be careful with him as he doesn't want to suffer anymore._

 _Anyway, if you want to answer to my message, I'd be glad to read your thoughts._

Elena hit send on her keyboard and waited for a response. She didn't have to wait too long. Silk Heart's answer was enthusiastic to say the least. She – Elena started to refer to her as a 'she' simply because the way she wrote sounded kind of feminine to her – was glad that someone in the forum wanted to actually discuss The Nobodies.

Silk Heart praised her way of interpreting the song and wanted to discuss things further. Elena started to chat with her on the forum private messaging system, enjoying the conversation with someone who seemed to know her way around music. Silk Heart was not the common fan blind to the flaw of her idol – pointing out the weak points of The Nobodies' way of playing – but she seemed genuinely interested in this new band.

The two kept chatting while Stefan drove toward Boston. At a certain point, Elena decided to go for the question she had been wanting to ask since the moment Silk Heart revealed herself as a fellow fan. She sat up straighter on her seat and quickly typed her question.

 _So I'm heading to Boston for the concert Saturday night; I'm so excited at the prospect of maybe meeting them! Btw, don't you think it's kind of strange how there's so little on them? I mean, there are only basic bios but nothing more? Were you able to find anything on them that could be interesting?_

 _I don't want to sound like a creep stalking them, I just really want to get to know them._

Satisfied with the way she had worded her message, Elena hit 'send' and waited for the reply. When the answer didn't come immediately, she started to worry that maybe she had pushed too much. She sucked in her lower lip and tapped her fingers on the keyboard.

Damon's voice kept singing softly in the background, almost comforting her with its rich tone.

When the answer popped up in the chat, Elena read it all as quickly as possible – as soon as she had seen how long it was, she knew Silk Heart had found something interesting on the band. A slow smile stretched Elena's lips as her eyes moved along the lines, drinking in every single word as if her life depended on it. She reread the whole text three times just to be sure she had everything straight.

"Hey, Stef," she said, turning toward him with an excited smile.

Stefan glanced at her while keeping an eye on the road. "What is it?" he asked with a frown.

"You'll never guess what I found out." Elena's voice trembled with excitement.

"What? You seem way too happy about whatever it is."

She brushed her hair out of her face, her giddy smile still in place.

"Okay, so keep in mind that these are all rumors and there is nothing certain," she blabbered. "As far as this concerns us, this could all be a really horrible joke but it's still more than we've been able to find so far so…"

"Elena!" Stefan exclaimed stopping the almost incomprehensible string of words coming out of his friend's mouth. "Would you please slow down and tell me what you're talking about?"

Elena closed her mouth with a soft _pop_ and took a deep breath. She tried to calm down and organize her thoughts because this was a serious matter; she couldn't afford to make a mess out of everything she had just learned. She needed to keep her cool and tell Stefan the wonderful news.

"Okay," she breathed out. "So you know how I was looking through that forum my brother told me about?"

Stefan nodded switching lanes when he saw that their exit was getting near.

"It turns out that, for the most part, it's just a bunch of people searching for someone willing to hook-up with them."

Stefan grimaced.

"Yeah, I know," she told him. "But, I found something interesting. There is this girl, at least I think she's a girl, that is way into The Nobodies. I mean, she analyzed one of their songs and I'm telling you, she's really good."

Her friend glanced at her with a small smile. "So you basically wanted to tell me that you've found someone willing to fangirl with you?"

Elena rolled her eyes and pursed her lips. "No, although I do appreciate chatting with someone who isn't a jerk," she narrowed her eyes at him.

He lifted a hand off the wheel and raised it in a gesture of peace. "Sorry, my bad. I'm assuming there is something more to this story?"

Elena debated whether to keep the information all to herself just to make him squirm in his seat. In the end, she decided to just tell him what she had discovered – partly because she wanted to see his reaction and because she really didn't want to end up in an accident if she made him squirm too much.

"Long story short, we talked about The Nobodies and their songs for a while. It was really nice; she seems to know a lot about music which, you know me, is a big plus." Stefan nodded knowingly. "Anyway, I asked her if she had found anything about the members of the band because it's weird how little there is about them."

"And?" Stefan prompted her starting to feel on edge. If she didn't tell him what she had found out right that moment, he felt like he could explode.

Elena continued her story, a small victorious smile starting to curve her lips. "And, she actually knows something. She knows a guy that claims he knew them – maybe it's more correct to say that he knew _of_ them – before they became The Nobodies."

"What did this guy tell her?" Stefan felt more and more nervous.

"Well, he said that Caroline, Lorenzo and Bonnie are all orphans each for a different reason, and that they were all raised in an orphanage in Boston, a place called Baby Jesus' Handmaids." She read off her computer.

"What?" he asked her.

Elena shrugged her shoulders. "Apparently it's an orphanage founded by a Catholic Church in Boston; she doesn't say which one."

"And Damon? Is he an orphan too?" he asked her, already dreading the answer.

"Nope," she answered quickly. "She says that her friend told her that Damon lived with his father – no mother mentioned – but that he used to spend a lot of time at the orphanage."

Stefan nodded to himself letting his mind wrap itself around the new information. So Damon had spent a lot of time at an orphanage. Stefan couldn't think of any reason that would push anyone to spend time at an orphanage, especially since Damon's father had been alive. Why would he spend his time there?

For some reason, Stefan was certain that was one of the most important questions regarding the leader of The Nobodies.

He felt Elena's eyes on himself.

"Did your friend say anything else?" he asked her. He knew she was probably trying to gauge his reaction to the news she had just delivered, but he really didn't want to talk about his doubts in that moment.

Elena seemed to sense his reluctance. "She told me where the orphanage is. I was thinking that maybe we could check it out tomorrow morning?"

Once again, Stefan nodded to himself. "Yeah, sure. I mean, it's not the most reliable information ever – as far as we know, she could just be telling us a load of crap – but it's not like this road-trip is grounded in certainties, right?"

He turned to look at her. Elena smiled encouragingly at him, glad that he seemed to be taking everything in stride. She remembered how weary he had been when she had pitched her idea for the road-trip; how he had been sure that the whole journey would turn out to be a waste of time. Now, it seemed he had finally accepted that if they wanted to find Damon, they would have to rely more on blind faith than anything else.

"So we have a plan." She said, closing her laptop.

"That we do." Was Stefan quiet response.

When half an hour later they spotted Boston's lights in the distance, it was with a sense of purpose that they gazed at the city.

The sun was sinking slowly behind the towering buildings of the city center, its red rays setting on fire the waters of the Ocean. Although they had spent the last few days traveling from city to city, there was something about Boston that made it stand out amid the others. Maybe it was because so much was bound to happen in its streets. Whether they would find Stefan's brother or not, they had made it that far relying only on each other.

That in itself felt like a huge accomplishment.

* * *

 **A big thank you to delena21051 for continuing to beta this story!**


	6. I Found You

**AN: okay so this chapter is the longest I've written for this story as of this moment. I'm trying to keep all the chapters more or less around 5500 words but there are so many things happening here that I just couldn't stay within that limit. As always, thanks to all those who take the time to read and write a review - no matter how long or short - to let me know what they think of the chapter!**

 **Thank you to delena21051 for being an amazingly patient betareader!**

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Chapter 5 - I Found You

Stefan turned off the car and rested his hands on the steering wheel. He took deep, slow breaths to keep himself calm as he stared at the building in front of him. It was a nondescript two-story building that didn't particularly stand out among its neighbors. The grey plastering had crumbled down in some places revealing the red bricks underneath. Above the entrance door, the words 'Orphanage Baby Jesus' Handmaids' were carved into the stone.

He didn't know why, but somehow he had imagined the orphanage where is maybe-brother had spent a lot of his time to be completely different. He knew it was ridiculous to expect a building to show some physical sign of Damon having been there, yet that was exactly what he had expected to see.

"Are you okay?"

Elena's voice pulled him out of his reflections. He turned to look at her seated on the passenger side, her eyes looking worriedly at him. She was probably starting to internally freak out at the way he had just been sitting there staring at the building in front of them as if it had personally offended him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He told her to ease her worry. "I just need a minute, you know?"

She said nothing, choosing instead to look ahead at the building while she waited for him to pull himself together. She had no way of knowing what he was feeling, but she imagined that 'nervous' couldn't even begin to describe him. Hell, she wasn't the one looking for her estranged brother and she still felt uneasy, as if she were standing on the edge of a precipice and one more step forward could plunge her into the unknown.

Stefan shifted his grip on the steering wheel feeling the palms of his hands starting to become slick with sweat. Try as he might, he just couldn't find it in himself to calm down and move. As long as he stayed inside the car, he could still pretend that things were all right; he could remain in the state of subtle euphoria that had snuck up on him when Elena had read out loud her new information on Damon.

Inside that car, his world was still in one piece; outside of it, it could crumble.

Because what if it all turned out to be a giant joke? What if the girl Elena had been talking with was just some sick, twisted person that liked to destroy other people's dreams? Stefan wasn't so sure that he could handle it if they found out that Damon had never even seen this orphanage. This was the only concrete lead they had, and he refused to believe that it was all about to turn into a disappointment of catastrophic proportions.

Before he could find something else to keep him stuck in that car, Stefan turned and opened the door jumping out of the car, all in one motion. Without turning back, he started walking toward the entrance of the orphanage feeling a bit better when he heard Elena's footsteps right by his side.

When he reached the entrance, he grabbed the metal handle and pulled. The door didn't budge. Stefan felt on the verge of screaming; it was just their luck, wasn't it?

A stifled snort behind him made him turn. Elena had her lips pressed together to keep herself from laughing at him.

He cocked his head to the side waiting for an explanation.

"It says 'push'." She said pointing at the door. "Right there."

Stefan turned back and looked where Elena's finger was pointing toward; the white and blue sign with the word 'push' on it seemed to mock him from where it hung. Stefan felt his cheeks grow hot and mentally chided himself for having been nervous to the point of making a fool of himself.

"I saw it." He mumbled without looking at his friend. "I was just steeling myself before going inside."

"Sure you were."

Stefan pushed the door open and stepped inside the orphanage. He didn't know exactly what he was expecting – touring orphanages wasn't exactly his hobby – but he was pleasantly surprised by the serene atmosphere inside. He advanced a few steps, Elena trailing silently beside him.

The air was cool inside but not excessively so, making it for a nice change in temperature from the summer heat they had previously been in. Boston wasn't exactly hot during the summer – certainly nothing compared to the hot days in Virginia – but, like every other maritime city, it was humid in a way that made it uncomfortable to walk around too much.

Right in front of Stefan and Elena there was a small hall, with lucid marble floors and snow-white walls that made for a very clear and sunny environment thanks to the large windows that let the light stream in. There was no one behind the receptionist desk so the two friends took their time looking around.

Stefan had always imagined orphanages to be pretty sad places, but this didn't look like such a bad place. He didn't think that the kids who lived there were ecstatic at the idea of living in an orphanage, but if the colorful drawings that covered the wall behind the receptionist desk were anything to go by, they were at least treated well.

"Should we look for someone or should we wait here?" Elena asked him, moving her weight from one foot to the other.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not really sure what the protocol in this situation is."

He took a few steps forward to throw a look in the hallway that opened in the top left corner of the room they were in. It was a long white hallway with several doors opening along both sides. He could see that there were small windows on the doors and it made him think that maybe those were classrooms or something like that. He wasn't sure what kids did in an orphanage but surely, they were provided with some sort of an education.

He noticed that there too the walls were covered in drawings.

Right when he made to turn back toward Elena, he saw something move at the end of the hallway. He squinted his eyes and recognized the profile of a person. Judging by the clothes, it was a woman of medium height.

"There's someone over there." He pointed at the woman, turning to look at Elena. "Maybe we can ask her how to find Damon."

"Well, trying won't kill us."

The two exchanged a quick nod before walking down the hallway. When they were halfway across the hallway, they saw the woman opening a door to walk inside a room. The two friends quickened their steps afraid that they would lose sight of her.

"Ma'am!" Stefan called out.

The woman turned to look in their direction, one hand still clasping the door-handle. She frowned at them, clearly confused by their sudden appearance.

Stefan and Elena stopped in front of her and offered her a smile. Up close, Stefan realized that he had been right in judging the figure to be a woman. In front of them stood an elderly-looking nun with big round glasses that framed kind green eyes. She was of medium height and her plump body made her look like one of those Russian dolls Elena's mother had bought at a street-market a couple of years before.

"You are not supposed to be here, this area is restricted to personnel only." She spoke kindly to them, not a hint of rudeness in her voice, yet Stefan still felt as if he had been scolded for stealing a cookie from the cookie-jar.

"Ah, there is no one back at reception." He pointed behind him with his thumb. "We saw you and thought maybe we could ask you for help."

The nun sighed and adjusted her glasses. "I must have a word with Sister Anne. That young girl is never where she is supposed to be." She told them with an apologetic smile. "You mentioned you needed my help?"

Elena took a step forward. "We are looking for someone."

"I don't seem to recall any appointment for today and, quite frankly, you two seem awfully young to be thinking about adopting a baby." This time there was definitely a subtle hint of judgment in her words.

"Wha—" Elena glanced at Stefan with wide eyes. Did she just hear the nun implying that they wanted to adopt a baby?

When she saw the horrified look in Stefan's eyes, Elena turned back toward the nun. "No, no, no, no, no! We're not a couple, we're just friends!"

"Yeah and we certainly do not want to adopt a baby." Stefan quickly added.

The two friends giggled nervously while the nun's eyes moved from him to Elena and back to him. She seemed to be amused by their reaction and Stefan couldn't help but wonder whether a nun had just trolled them.

"Well, then I don't really know how I can be of any help to you." The nun said adjusting her glasses once again. "This is an orphanage, after all."

"As I was saying." Elena intervened once again. "We're looking for a man. From what we know, he used to spend a lot of time here when he was a kid."

"Like, 15 or 16 years ago?" Stefan added.

The nun frowned. "Why are you looking for this man?"

Stefan glanced at Elena and at her subtle nod, he decided to tell the truth to the nun.

"We think that he might have been my brother." There was really no reason to beat around the bush.

"Your brother?" The nun said with wide eyes. "What makes you think that?"

Stefan sighed, really not in the mood to get on the whole story. "It's a really long story. I've been looking for him for months and this is the only trace of him I was able to find."

The nun didn't look too convinced. Stefan decided to play his last card to try and make the nun believe him. He reached for his wallet in the back pocket of the dark jeans he was wearing.

"I have a picture of him." He pulled it out of his wallet and handed it to her with a pleading look. "Please, could you just look at it and tell me if you recognize him? He's the boy with the dark hair and the blue eyes."

The two friends waited with baited breath as the nun looked at the picture. She stared at it intently but neither Stefan nor Elena saw any change in the expression on her face. The tension was killing Stefan; this woman could actually be the one to tell him where Damon was. Maybe he could meet him before the day of the concert; maybe he could find out sooner rather than later whether this Damon was his brother or not.

The nun sighed and handed the picture back to Stefan; his heart sank when he caught the apologetic look in her eyes.

"He seems familiar, but I can't be sure I've seen him or someone else looking like him." She told him. "A lot of blue-eyed, black-haired boys have lived in this orphanage."

Stefan's hand fell against his side, the picture held tightly between his fingers. He felt Elena's hand squeeze his arm in a sign of comfort and he turned to give her a tight-lipped smile that he hoped covered the disappointment he was feeling. The nun hadn't outright said that she had never seen Damon, but neither had she given them the means to find him.

He looked at the nun and offered her a small smile; it wasn't her fault that she couldn't be sure she had really seen Damon.

"Thank you." He told her. "This was all we were here for. I guess we'll just leave."

The nun reached out with her hand and stopped him before he could turn around. "Wait a moment, young man. I said _I_ can't be sure if I saw him; I never said that there isn't someone else who could be able to help you."

Stefan couldn't believe his ears. At the nun's words, he felt a tiny glimmer of hope blooming in his chest. Elena was just as excited as he was. Still with her hand encircling his forearm, she moved closer to him.

"You mean you know someone who would know for sure if he was here?" She was almost afraid to hope.

The nun nodded. "The Director has an incredible memory. For as long as I've known him, he's never forgotten a single kid who walked through the doors of this orphanage." She told them. "If the man you're looking for has spent some time here – as you seem sure he did – then the Director would know."

"And can we meet this Director now?" Stefan asked his voice shaky with nerves.

"He should be in his office. Go to the end of this hallway, turn right and go through the first door on your right. His office is at the top of the stairs. Just tell him that Sister Eleanor sent you." She told them with a motherly smile.

Both Stefan and Elena grabbed the nun's hands in their own, shaking them in gratitude while speaking one over the other.

"Thank you so much! You ha—"

"We won't forget about this or ab—"

"You just made our day, no our year!"

After a good five minutes of praises, the two friends bolted down the hallway throwing one last 'thank you' over their shoulders, leaving a bemused nun to stare after them in the now deserted hallway. Sister Eleanor shook her head and recited a silent pray that the two young ones would find the man they were looking for.

When Stefan reached the top of the stairs, he looked at the nondescript wooden door with a golden-plated plaque sporting the words 'Director Simmons' on it. He stared at it for a moment before raising his hand and rapping his knuckles against the door. He knocked twice, the sound echoing in the small antechamber and almost synchronizing with the loud pounding of his heart in his chest.

" _Come in!"_ Came a male voice from behind the door.

Steeling his nerves – and drawing from the comforting feeling of Elena's hand pressed lightly against his shoulder – Stefan opened the door.

The office was not small but the cluttered bookcases that lined three of its four walls made it look crowded. On the wall opposite the door, a floor-to-ceiling window opened on the garden the two friends had briefly seen when entering the orphanage. Seated behind a dark mahogany desk, was a middle-aged African-American man built like a professional wrestler – albeit one no longer in his days of glory – with short greying hair.

He raised an eyebrow at them when they remained silent upon entering the room.

"Uh, we were looking for the Director of the orphanage?" Stefan haltingly said.

"You found him." The man said resting his hands on top of the desk. His voice was deep and a bit raucous from age.

Stefan seemed to shake himself out of his daze. "Yes, of course." He said with an embarrassed smile. "This is the office of the Director so…" He cleared his throat advancing toward the desk and sticking his hand out for the older man to shake. "My name is Stefan Moore; this is my friend Elena Gilbert."

Elena moved forward and shook the older man's hand murmuring a quiet 'pleasure to meet you'.

"Sister Eleanor sent us to you." Stefan told him.

At those words, Mr. Simmons gestured for them to take a seat on the two low armchairs in front of his desk.

"Would you like something to drink? Water? Maybe some iced-tea?" He asked them, swiveling in his chair to reveal a cart behind him with glasses and bottles on top of it.

"Nothing for me, thank you." Stefan didn't think he could stomach anything at the moment.

"Could I have a glass of tea, please?" Elena asked.

While Mr. Simmons was busy pouring the iced-tea, Elena looked around in the office. At first, she had thought all the bookcases to be filled with well…books. Now that she looked closely, though, she saw that the ones nearer to the desk were occupied by rows and rows of framed pictured of boys and girls of all ages. She spotted even some adults in a few of them.

"They are my children." Mr. Simmons said handing the iced-tea to Elena.

"You mean the children in the pictures?" She asked him grabbing the glass, careful not to spill any of it on top of his desk.

"Yes, of course." Mr. Simmons said leaning back in his chair. His eyes moved from one picture on his desk to the other. "I like to keep track of every kid that ends up in this orphanage. I want them to feel like they already have a family when they come here and that they just have to wait for the chance to create their own little family."

"That's really nice of you. I'm sure they really appreciate everything that you do for them." Elena told him with a sincere smile. She took a sip of her iced-tea, relishing in the way the cool liquid slid down her throat.

"I know they do. You know they occasionally send me picture of them with their new parents and siblings? Some of them even come back for a visit." He heaved a sigh, throwing a last affectionate look at the kids smiling at him from their frames. "Anyway, if Sister Eleanor sent you to me it must mean that you need something from me? What is it?"

Stefan straightened in his chair, glad that they were finally getting to the point of their visit. He was glad that Director Simmons seemed to truly care for the kids in his charge – God knew those children needed someone to love them – but he had felt a bit annoyed that they were talking about things that had nothing to do with his brother.

"Yes, sir. We actually need your help." He started, his fingers clenching around the picture he still held in his hand. "More or less six months ago, I found out I had an older brother who I have never met. For a series of reasons that I won't bore you with, I had no way of contacting him. However, Elena and I recently discovered that he might have spent some time here in this orphanage. Sister Eleanor told us that you remember every kid who's ever been here so…"

"So you wonder if I remember your brother." Mr. Simmons finished his sentence for him.

Stefan nodded at him.

"Well, do you have a picture of him?"

Stefan leaned forward and handed him the picture of his brother. "He's the boy with dark hair and blue eyes." He said, hoping to help jog the man's memory.

It turned out there really was no need to jog Simmons' memory. As soon as his eyes fell on the picture, he beamed at it.

"Oh, I definitely remember him!" He said with a laugh. "That's Damon Salvatore."

Stefan felt his heart jump in his throat at the man's words. He couldn't believe it; they had found him. The man sitting right in front of him had recognized the boy in the picture as Damon Salvatore. It meant that the road-trip had not been a waste of time. It meant that he was in the same city as his brother. It meant that he could actually meet him.

He turned to look at Elena with a smile so big stretching his lips that it actually hurt. He saw an identical smile on his friend's face.

"Elena, we did it!" He told her breathlessly.

Elena laughed in happiness and turned to the director of the orphanage. "Are you absolutely sure that's him?"

Simmons nodded. "I would never forget this boy. He used to come here to play with his friends. He never stood still a moment, not even if his life depended on it."

Stefan leaned forward, sitting on the edge of his armchair. "Why did he come here? Didn't he have a family?"

Simmons handed him the picture back. "As far as I know, he lived with his father somewhere in Brookline; rich people live there. Since he wasn't one of my kids, I did not know much about him."

Elena frowned at this new piece of information. "I'm sorry but I don't understand. If he didn't live here and you knew nothing about him, then why did you let him come here without asking him any questions?"

"Well, he came here with the founder of the orphanage so I didn't think I'd need to." Simmons answered without blinking an eye.

"The founder of the orphanage?" Stefan was feeling more curious on his brother's life with every new piece of information he found. It seemed to him like Damon's life was a jumbled mess of people who knew little about him.

"Yeah, Father Kieran." Simmons told them, clutching his hands and resting them on his desk. "Damon hung around him like a lost puppy. Not much has changed if you ask me."

Stefan perked up at his words. "Wait a second, are you telling me that this priest is still in contact with Damon?"

Simmons nodded. "Of course. When Damon turned 18, he and three of my kids went to live with him. I know that they all have their place now but I'm sure they still crash at Father Kieran's every now and then." He scratched the side of his head in thought. "In fact, I'm pretty sure they're at his place these days."

Stefan and Elena exchanged a look before she turned toward Simmons and stared at him with determined eyes. "Sir, could you tell us where we can find this priest?"

~.~

"There it is! St. Joseph's Catholic Church."

Stefan pointed at the church standing proud against the blue sky. It was an old gothic-style church that reminded him of the one in X-Men 2 when Jean and Storm go looking for Nightcrawler. Had it been night, he would have thought it was actually the same one.

The church had been so close to the orphanage that the two friends had decided to leave their car and simply walk. Simmons had explained to them the way to the church, instructing them to tell Father Kieran that he was the one who sent them.

The two friends jogged up the steps leading to the double-doors at the entrance. Once they stepped inside the church, they were immediately hit by a waft of cool air and the smell of incense. Elena walked up to the stoop and dipped her fingers in the holy water before making the sign of the cross. Stefan followed her example after a moment of indecision.

Elena started walking down the central aisle, her eyes taking in the tall windows portraying the saints and the angels. There was something that inspired awe in her in the presence of such magnificence. She had never been in a Catholic church before, but she found herself liking the air of complete and total peace she felt around her.

"Can I help you?"

Elena immediately lowered her gaze searching for the man who had just spoken. She saw him at the end of the central aisle, something clutched in his hands. He was looking at her with open, earnest eyes.

"We're looking for Father Kieran." She said raising her voice and cringing slightly when she heard it echo in the church. She didn't know whether she was supposed to speak quietly or if she was allowed to raise her voice. "Mr. Simmons from the Baby Jesus' Handmaids sent us here. We need to speak with Father Kieran. It's an urgent matter."

The man walked towards her, his long black cassock moving with a whisper over the red and white stones that paved the church. When he reached her, he smiled kindly, little crinkles appearing at the corners of his eyes.

"You have found him. I'm Father Kieran." He said, his words lilting with a light Irish accent.

He was a man in his late forties – perhaps early fifties – with short dark-brown hair with the first hints of grey at his temples. He was tall – at least six feet – and had a lean physique. His eyes were a deep green and Elena noticed the freckles lightly dusting his nose and cheeks. His entire being seemed to emanate an air of kindness that put at ease everyone in his presence.

When Elena shook the hand he stuck out toward her, she felt his strong grip hold tightly to her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Father. My name is Elena Gilbert, this is Stefan Moore." She introduced herself and Stefan who, in the meantime, had reached her side.

After Stefan had shook the priest's hand, Father Kieran turned to look at her.

"What can I do for you?"

Elena motioned for Stefan to talk. After a brief glance at her, he stepped forward drawing Father Kieran's attention on himself.

"We're looking for my brother. His name is Damon Salvatore; Mr. Simmons told us that you are in contact with him." Stefan saw no reason to beat around the bush.

Father Kieran seemed startled by his words. He clutched the book he still held in his hands – a Bible, Elena realized now that they were close to him – and looked at Stefan with inscrutable eyes. He seemed to doubt whether to believe Stefan's story or not. Elena found herself thinking that she couldn't exactly blame him for this.

"Can you prove to me that you are who you say you are? I wish to believe you, but this is an extremely delicate matter. I cannot simply send you to Damon without even be sure of who you are." He spoke with a calm voice.

Elena touched Stefan's elbow. "Show him the picture."

Stefan reached in his pocket and – for what felt like the millionth time that day – pulled out the only picture he had of his brother.

"Here."

They both saw the immediate flash of recognition in his eyes. Father Kieran stared at the picture for a long moment; he even turned it over and read what was written on its back. After a good half-minute, he sighed and handed the picture back to Stefan.

Stefan took it with a frown. "So?"

Father Kieran joined his hands over the Bible in his lap. "I'm really not sure what I can do for you. You say you want to meet Damon and, while I feel your plight, I do not know if that would be the best thing for him."

Stefan shook his head, not understanding what the priest was saying.

"Excuse me?"

Father Kieran stared at him with hard eyes. "I do not know you Stefan but you seem like a good person. Certainly, if you went through all this trouble to find Damon you must be a good person. However, what happened in the past left deep wounds that I do not wish to see re-opened. It would be wonderful if the two of you reunited, I can assure you I would be the first to rejoice, but I do not see how throwing you in Damon's life would be beneficial to him."

As he listened to the priest's words, Stefan felt anger pool inside of him. He was so close to finally meeting his brother, so incredibly close, and now this man was pushing him away. He was tired and frustrated and, frankly, he was really done with people keeping his brother from him. He would not let this priest keep him from Damon.

"Listen, I don't know who you think you are but Damon is my brother. I have a right to meet him!" His voice had reached a shout by the end of his sentence.

Father Kieran's eyes turned to stone. "And Damon has a right to refuse and go on living his life."

Before Stefan could say anything else, Elena intervened. She took a hold of his elbow and made him turn away from the priest. "Stefan, back off! Let me deal with this; you'll only make things worse like this."

He looked at her with anger-filled eyes; his cheeks flushed a bright red. He was practically trembling with fury. After a terribly long moment, he seemed to calm down at least enough to keep himself from physically shaking Father Kieran to make him tell him where Damon was.

He clenched his jaw before roughly shrugging off her hand and stomping out of the church.

Elena watched him go feeling powerless in stopping his pain. She couldn't imagine how he was feeling in that moment; it seemed awfully cruel that things never went his way.

She turned toward Father Kieran. His eyes followed Stefan until he disappeared through the entrance doors.

"Perhaps you should have gone with him."

Elena took a deep breath, immediately feeling defensive. "He is tired, frustrated and no offense, but you really did not help the situation, Father."

Father Kieran's eyes slid to her. He seemed surprised and vaguely offended by her candor. Before he could say anything, Elena kept on talking.

"We don't know what happened in the past that would make you feel like Damon needs protection. In fact, until six months ago, Stefan didn't even know he had a brother." She spoke quietly, trying to make him understand that they weren't trying to upset Damon's life. "For all these months we've been looking for clues that would lead us to Damon, and now we've found him. We came a long way to meet him. We don't want to make things hard, we don't want to open old wounds. We just ask you to please let us, let Stefan, speak to his brother."

Father Kieran looked her deeply in the eyes; she felt like he was trying to judge the sincerity in her words. She held his gaze, determined to prove to him that she could be trusted. The way Father Kieran wanted to protect Damon reminded her of the way she tried to protect Stefan – and he her – or the way her parents tried to protect her from anything that might inflict her harm.

She didn't know what kind of bond existed between the priest and Damon, but it was clearly a strong one.

After a long moment, Father Kieran seemed to come to a decision. "I will speak to Damon tonight. I will explain to him the situation the way you explained it to me. If you give me your number, I promise to call you to inform you whether Damon wants to meet with Stefan or not."

Elena wasn't exactly happy with the way the priest wanted to handle the situation, but she knew this was the best offer she was going to get. She gave her number to the priest, thanked him and turned to go to Stefan with the somewhat good news.

She hadn't even taken three steps, before the voice of the priest stopped her.

"Miss Gilbert, I will not force Damon into doing something he doesn't want to do." He told her, his eyes tired. "The decision to meet with Stefan will be his and his alone. If he chooses to not meet him, I need your word that you will not try to interfere with his life anymore."

Elena looked him determinedly in the eye. "You have my word."

With those words, she left.

~.~

Father Kieran left the church through a door in the back and crossed the garden toward his house. As he walked along the tree-lined dirt road, he thought back to the conversation he had with Stefan and Elena. He dreaded having to tell Damon that his brother was in the same city as he was and that he wanted to meet him. He couldn't see how that conversation could go well.

As he got closer to his home, he heard voices and laughter coming from inside the small two-story building. He smiled as the house emerged from the trees. It was an old building, a bit run-down but still solid and, most importantly, still welcoming.

He walked up the three wooden steps that lead to the porch. As he entered into the small living room – that also served as a place where to eat – only to find Damon and Enzo fighting over who would get to hold the TV-remote, while Bonnie cheered first for one and then for the other from where she was curled on the worn sofa by the wall.

"Boys, put down the remote and go set the table." He said surveying the situation with fond eyes.

The two men did as they were told, going into the kitchen in the next room to grab the tableware. Kieran heard them grumbling all the way.

"Hey Father K, we were wondering when you would arrive." Bonnie smiled at him.

"I had some things to do. Where is Caroline?" He had yet to see her.

Bonnie pointed at the door on her left. "She's in the kitchen finishing up preparing dinner. She made her spaghetti."

"Oh boy, it's good that I'm famished then. I hope she cooked more pasta than the last time." Caroline's spaghetti with tomato sauce made from scratch was everyone's favorite food.

"She came prepared. No one will be left wanting."

"Listen, I'm going upstairs to shower and change before dinner." He said. "Do me a favor and hold tight to the remote, you know those two will start fighting over it as soon as I turn my back."

Bonnie gave him a mock salute as he rounded the corner to go upstairs to his bedroom.

When he came back downstairs, the table was already set, a plate full of deliciously looking spaghetti on each place.

The five of them ate will exchanging pleasant conversation. Kieran told them of his day at the church – leaving aside the unexpected visit he received – and the others took turns telling him how things were going with their band.

He learned that the four of them had been rehearsing for their concert that Saturday all afternoon; that Bonnie still had some trouble performing one of their new songs; that Caroline and Enzo fought over who would get to sing which part with Damon; that Damon had missed a note he usually got and had started doubting himself.

He smiled as he listened to his little family. They were always bickering and that's how he knew that they loved each other deeply. The day they started getting along without teasing one another, was the day he would start worrying.

As always, it was his job to bring peace back among them. He told Bonnie to take two deep breaths before launching herself into the songs so that she would relax and perform at her best. He told Caroline and Enzo to alternate who would sing each part of the song so that they would both sing equally. He told Damon to relax because everyone made mistakes and that Kieran had complete faith in him and knew he would sing as beautifully as always.

After dinner, Kieran asked Damon to help him wash the dishes while the others took their places around the living room, ready for their traditional post-dinner movie.

As he washed the dishes and passed them to Damon so he could dry them, Kieran decided it was the right time to breach the subject of his brother.

"Two visitors came to the church today looking for someone." He started.

Damon looked at him with an amused light in his eyes. "Let me guess, they were looking for God?"

Kieran pretended he hadn't heard him. "One of them, a young man, was looking for his brother."

He noticed how Damon seemed to tense at his words. He risked pushing a little bit forward.

"His name was Stefan." He said keeping his eyes on the man beside him.

Damon almost dropped the glass he was drying. Kieran gently took it from his hands and set it down on the counter. He took a hold of Damon's arm and gently led him to sit down at the small table near the ceiling to floor windows that looked toward the garden.

"I don't appreciate you joking about this." Damon said in a panicked whisper.

"I wasn't joking." He said with a sad smile. "He said he has been looking for you for months now. I don't know how he found out where you were but he's here in Boston."

Damon shook his head minutely and looked Kieran in the eyes. "Maybe it's not him." He sounded almost pleading.

"He had a picture of you, of when you were a boy. You were holding a baby in your arms." He told him, his familiar accent somewhat comforting him. "I would recognize you anywhere, Damon."

Damon squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his fist on the table. He didn't know how to feel at the news that his brother was in the same city where he was and apparently was looking for him. There was a part of him that felt overjoyed at the prospect of meeting the adult version of the baby he had so loved many years ago.

Another bigger part of him was afraid of having to deal with a figure from his past.

"What does he want?" He asked.

"He would like to meet you. He seemed to really want to get to know you."

Damon looked at him with lost eyes and asked the question Kieran was afraid he would ask.

"What should I do?"

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 **Let me know what you think!**


	7. Transition

**AN: Alright guys, this is probably my favorite chapter so far. I am so excited to read what you think about this particular chapter! I'm glad you all seemed to appreciate Father Kieran last chapter; he is the first OC I've ever created so I was a little nervous as I didn't know how he would be welcomed by all of you ;)**

 **Thanks to all of you faithful readers and reviewers and a huge thank you to my beta delena21051!**

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Chapter 6 - Transition

 _Transition_ was unlike any club Elena and Stefan had ever set foot in. The building that housed the club – a three-story edifice with red brick walls that had certainly seen a better time – was located near the center of Boston. The buildings all around it were shiny places ranging from five-star restaurants to haute-couture shops that probably sold dresses made out of scraps of cloths worth five thousand dollars.

In other words, the decrepit building stood out like a sore-thumb.

When the two friends had walked through the entrance in the back of the club, they had expected the interior of the club to match its outside. They had been partially right in their expectations.

Everything was dark inside the club, from the black scuffed floor to the black walls with the paint peeling here and there. The blue, red, purple and golden lights streaming through the dance floor gave the place an ethereal look that gave the impression of having trespassed in some sort of parallel universe completely separated from the normal one.

Every inch of the floor and the walls was covered in writing and graffiti. The vast majority of the writings was in white, though there were also brilliant reds, deep blues and smoky grays.

Elena cast a look around her observing that strange new place.

The place was divided into four circular levels. The ground floor was occupied by the spacious dance floor already packed with people swinging in time with the pumping music in the club. On one side of the dance floor – to the left of the entrance – was an elevated stage where the DJ was currently focused on his console. Behind him, Elena noticed the long red curtain hiding what was probably an extension of the stage.

On the other side – right on the opposite wall – there was a long bar, its slick black surface shining every time the lights grazed it. Behind the bar, two bartenders – a man and a woman – were busy mixing drinks and cocktails to the heterogeneous people shouting their orders over the music.

All around the dance floor, starting from both sides of the stage and ending almost right up the bar, there were booths lined with soft-looking, low, dark-red couches. A row of thin golden plated columns separated the booths from the dance floor avoiding any collision between the people dancing and those who just wanted to sip their drinks in peace.

From what Elena could see, the three upper-levels were reserved exclusively for booths and tables, making them the perfect place to relax far from the throng on the dance floor. She saw faces peering down from over the balconies lined with the same rows of golden plated columns present on the ground floor too.

All in all, _Transition_ seemed the perfect place to spend a perfect night.

A hand nudging her elbow made Elena turn to her left.

"Do you see him?" Stefan asked her leaning closer so that she could hear him over the music.

Elena glace around her quickly before shaking her head. "It's a little hard to see anyone in here."

"Are you sure this is the right place?"

She nodded without hesitation. "Yeah. He said to come to _Transition_ at 9 sharp. Plus when we bought the tickets to Damon's concert, I made sure to check where the place actually was. I'm sure we're right where we're supposed to be, we just need to have a little patience." She shouted at him.

Stefan looked around, his eyes scouring the booths on either side of the dance floor in search of the man who had invited them here. Elena followed his example and looked too, focusing on the first floor.

If only the lights illuminated the place a little more.

When Elena's eyes rose to the second floor, she noticed some movement with the corner of her eye. She focused on the spot and saw a man waving his arm at her trying to catch her attention. She narrowed her eyes to make sure he was waving right at her. When the lights illuminated clearly the man's face, she smiled and waved back to let him know she had seen him.

She turned and called Stefan, who was still looking around frantically.

"Stefan! I saw him." She grabbed his hand and nodded toward the other side of the dance floor where she could see the stairs leading to the upper-levels. "Let's go."

Hand in hand, the two friends slowly made their way through the crowd.

When they reached the second floor, they looked around for a moment and immediately spotted where they were supposed to go. As they approached the table right next to the balcony, Elena's eyes widened when she saw who was sitting with the man who had invited them to the club.

She stopped right where she was and squeezed Stefan's hand to the point he winced.

"Ow! What's going on?"

"That's Alaric Saltzman!" She hissed through her teeth, her eyes fixed on the man. "I'm about to meet a legend in the music industry."

Stefan wriggled his hand out of her grip and shook it, letting the blood flow back into it. "Are you serious?"

"Stefan, I know you know next to nothing when it comes to music, but that man is simply the greatest manager a band could dream to have. Nine times out of ten, he brings an artist to fame. He's like…like…" She struggled to find a term of paragon that Stefan could understand. "…like the Renzo Piano of music!"

Stefan's eyebrows rose almost to his hairline. He looked at Alaric Saltzman and let out a low whistle. "He's that famous?"

"Uh, yah!" She nodded with wide eyes and mouth slightly open.

"Well, looks like you won't have the time to prepare to meet him because he's looking right at us and he'll start thinking that you have some kind of problem if you don't close your mouth."

Elena snapped her mouth shut with an audible _pop_ and turned toward the table. Alaric Saltzman was definitely looking at them with curious eyes.

Knowing that Elena was not going to move a single step in her state, Stefan grabbed her by her elbow and walked toward their destination.

When they stopped next to the table, the man sitting with Saltzman turned to look at them.

Father Kieran stood up and offered his hand at Stefan. "Hello Stefan, I'm glad you could make it. I was afraid you weren't going to find the right place. I was just about to call Elena and ask her where you were."

Stefan shook Kieran's hand with a tight smile; he still wasn't completely over their first encounter, though he was willing to bury the hatchet and behave like a mature adult.

"I'm sorry if we're a little late but it wasn't easy spotting you in the middle of that crowd." He nodded toward the dance floor.

Father Kieran let go Stefan's hands to greet a still shaken Elena. After that, he gestured toward Alaric who had observed the scene in silence.

"May I introduce to you Alaric Saltzman? He is a friend of mine and the manager of Damon's band." Father Kieran said looking at Stefan.

Stefan shook Alaric's hand – who had stood up in the meantime to properly greet the newcomers – and then turned toward Elena. His friend seemed to shake herself out of her stupor and taking a long step forward, she gripped Alaric's hand in both of hers.

"Mr. Saltzman it's such an honor to meet you." She said shaking his hand enthusiastically. "I'm a great fan of your work."

Alaric smiled at her with a mixture of pride and genuine pleasure at meeting someone so clearly full of passion. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Ms.…"

"Elena Gilbert, but please call me Elena."

He nodded with a chuckle. "Then I insist you call me Ric or at least Alaric. Mr. Saltzman makes me feel way older than I'm comfortable admitting I am."

Father Kieran observed the scene with an amused glint in his eyes. Once the introductions were over, he gestured to Stefan and Elena to take place at their booth. Elena sat next to Alaric near the balcony, while Stefan took place on the seat right opposite hers, placing him with his back to the stage in between Father Kieran and Alaric.

Alaric flagged down a passing waiter and ordered a glass of bourbon for himself, a non-alcoholic beer for Kieran and two Cokes for Stefan and Elena.

"So tell me, how do you two happen to know Kieran?" Alaric asked.

Elena threw a quick glance at Stefan, unsure on how to answer. Neither of them knew if they could tell people that they were there to meet Damon who just so happened to be Stefan's brother. Stefan had no idea what to do but fortunately, Father Kieran intervened to save them from their predicament.

"They are friends of friends." He told Ric. "Since they decided to come and visit Boston, I offered to show them around. What better place to start than with The Nobodies' concert?"

Ric nodded at his words and turned toward the two younger occupants of the booth. "Are you fans of the band or did you just need a way to pass the time?"

Stefan shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not really into the whole music thing. I mean, I like to listen to it obviously, but I'm not really passionate about it. Elena is the one who already knows all the songs of the band by heart."

Elena glared at him, her cheeks turning red. She hated being put on the spot, especially in front of such an important person like Alaric. Stefan only smirked at her.

She turned to look at Ric with a small, embarrassed smile on her lips. Alaric was looking at her with curiosity, obviously interested in knowing more about her supposed passion for the band he cared for.

"My dad owns a music-shop so I grew up listening to a lot of music; I guess the passion for it was just part of my DNA." She said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "When I heard The Nobodies for the first time, I have to admit I felt fascinated by them. There's just so much raw talent in them and of course, you must have realized that too otherwise you wouldn't have offered to become their manager."

Alaric tilted his head to the side, looking intently at the young woman in front of him.

"What do you think of them?" He asked her, genuinely wanting to know her answer.

Elena sucked on her lower lip, a little startled by Alaric's sudden question. She felt like she was being put to test so she reflected on her answer before speaking.

"As I said, I think there is a lot of talent in each of them. Bonnie can practically do whatever she wants with her drumsticks; she is really precise and never misses the opportunity to show off her skills. Caroline and Lorenzo are simply made for each other on the stage, it's like they banter with their guitars while playing their music perfectly."

Alaric's lips curved upwards at her words, a mixture of pride and praise in that simple tilt of his lips.

"What about Damon?"

At the mention of his brother's name, Stefan focused on the conversation.

"Well, Damon has one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard." Elena said without needing to think. "The rock music has just gained another great singer. Damon is right up there with the greatest rock singer of our times, that's for sure. But it's not just a matter of his voice. He's not simply singing his lyrics; it's like he… _feels_ them, you know what I mean?"

She looked at him with an unsure expression on her face. She didn't know how to put into words what Damon made her feel when he sang since it was something that had never happened to her before. She loved several singers and bands, but none of them had ever made her feel what Damon could make her feel with his raw passion.

Ric took a sip of his bourbon before smiling at her. "I know exactly what you mean. The guys are all extremely talented as you said, but Damon just has that certain something to him, doesn't he? I knew from the moment I heard him sing the first time that he was going to become a star."

Stefan listened as Elena and Alaric continued discussing The Nobodies and the band's possibilities in the near future. He tried to pay attention to what they were saying, but for one, he wasn't much of an expert in music, and for two, he was much more focused on the fact that Damon was somewhere in the building and Stefan would meet him in less than an hour.

When he and Elena had left the church the day they had met with Father Kieran, Stefan had almost cried tears of frustration when Elena had told him of her deal with the priest. He understood that, in his own way, Kieran was doing what he thought was best for Damon. He didn't know what kind of bond tied the priest to his brother, but if Damon had moved in with him at a certain point, it meant that there was a strong relationship between the two.

What had left him terrified was the possibility of Damon's refusal to meet him. Not once in the six months he had known of his brother's existence, had Stefan ever thought that Damon could not want to see him. He had always taken it for granted that his brother would be happy to reunite with him. After all, Stefan had no fault in what had happened, right?

As the two friends had gone back to their hotel room to wait for Father Kieran's call, Stefan had kept thinking about Elena's promise not to interfere with Damon's life if he chose not to meet them.

When Father Kieran told them that Damon had agreed to meet with them on Saturday night – after his concert at _Transition_ – Stefan had felt relieved that he wouldn't have to give up on his search now that he was so close. However, there was no way for him to stop thinking about the events of that day.

He had been so focused on finding his brother that he had never tried to imagine their meeting from Damon's point of view. He knew virtually nothing about his brother's life, although the fact that he had spent a lot of time in an orphanage and not with his father told Stefan that his childhood had been different from what he had expected.

Perhaps Damon would see him as the one responsible for what had happened. Perhaps he would feel animosity toward him and just wanted to meet so that he could tell Stefan exactly what he thought of the whole situation.

Stefan didn't know what he would do if Damon told him he didn't want anything to do with him.

He was snapped out of his gloomy thoughts when the music in the club suddenly stopped. The spotlights all pointed toward the curtain lining the back of the stage. Stefan saw the DJ and three other men removing the console to clear the stage.

"What's happening?" He asked.

Alaric put down his glass of bourbon on the table and smacked his lips. "The concert is about to start. The Nobodies will be the first to play, seeing as they are the main protagonists of this night. After them, there will be a bunch of other bands. Those bands don't matter, though. Tonight is all about The Nobodies."

Elena thought it was a bit cruel how he talked about the other bands that would come up on stage that night. She understood that he was the manager of The Nobodies and thus cared only about them, but he didn't have to sound so dismissive of those other artists who were trying to get somewhere with their music.

She supposed that being a famous and sought-after manager as Alaric was, came with a lot of cynicism and a general disregard for anything that didn't concern his job.

The curtain on stage opened, revealing the rest of the stage. Elena stood up and leaned over the balcony to better see what was happening. She drew in a breath when she saw Caroline Forbes walk on stage with a bright-yellow bass hanging from her shoulders.

Caroline was wearing tight-fitting black pants ripped at her thighs and knees, and a white sleeveless shirt with some sort of design on its front that Elena could not distinguish. Her blonde hair hung loosely around her shoulders, blue streaks clearly visible in it.

As she fiddled with the strings of her bass, Lorenzo joined her on stage followed closely by Bonnie who went to sit behind her drums.

Lorenzo knelt down on one side of the stage to hook up his electric guitar. When he stood up, Elena saw the impressive paintwork on it; his guitar was a deep Prussian blue that gradually faded in a soft cerulean. Lorenzo was wearing loose-fitting jeans and a dark-grey button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows.

Elena slid her eyes over to where Bonnie was making the last adjustments to her drums, moving things around until they suited her. Instead of the wavy hair Elena had seen in the picture of the band she had found weeks ago, Bonnie had her hair straightened and pulled back tightly in a high ponytail. She was wearing jean-shorts frayed at the ends, and a long sleeveless shirt with the 'Parental Advisory' logo on its front.

The three members of The Nobodies prepared for the show, fine-tuning their instruments. A couple of times Bonnie laughed at something Enzo said, while Caroline watched her two friends with a smile.

Elena had been so focused on observing the dynamics of the three friends on stage that she missed the moment in which Damon joined them. A general murmuring from the crowd alerted her of the singer's entrance.

Elena wanted to turn and tell Stefan that his brother was on stage – she didn't know whether he could see the stage clearly from where he was sitting. However, her eyes simply refused to move away from Damon's figure as he walked up to Lorenzo and slapped him on the shoulder, Caroline moving closer to join in their conversation. Damon moved slightly to the side to make room for Caroline.

The shift in his position allowed Elena to drink in his figure.

Even from far away, Elena knew that the picture she had seen of him simply didn't do him justice. The low-slung dark jeans he was wearing fit him perfectly, as did the pair of combat-boots with studs that shined when the lights hit them. Unlike the other members of the band, he had opted for a long-sleeved burgundy V-neck shirt that clung to him like a second-skin, revealing his lithe but muscled torso.

As she eyed him from a distance, she couldn't help but feel a current of excitement run through her body at the thought that she was going to see him up-close soon.

Without taking her eyes off him, she talked to Alaric who was standing next to her leaning over the railing.

"How much time do they have on stage?"

"Well, the concert will end around midnight and there are seven bands playing, if I remember correctly." He told her. "But, since The Nobodies are the most known band among the ones present here tonight, they will have a whole hour just for them."

Elena frowned and reluctantly dragged her eyes away from Damon to look at Ric. "But they only have eleven singles and that will only cover…" she quickly calculated in her mind. "…30 minutes, more or less."

Alaric looked at her with a knowing smile. "I see someone did their homework. It's true that they officially have only eleven singles but Damon has been writing new songs for a while now. I decided to keep their new songs under wraps in preparation for this concert and for the album I want them to launch."

"Oh."

Elena turned back to look at the band on stage. Damon threw his head back and laughed out loud at something Caroline had whispered in his ear. Elena felt an uncontrollable stab of jealousy at the way Caroline could make him laugh. As the thought came to her mind, she shook it off telling herself that it was ridiculous to feel jealous of someone she didn't personally know.

A dark-haired woman in her thirties walked on stage and spoke to The Nobodies. The members of the band nodded at her and walked each to their position, clearly preparing for the beginning of the concert. Damon briefly disappeared backstage to get a bottle of water.

Elena listened as the dark-haired woman greeted the crowd and listed the bands that were going to play that night. When she introduced The Nobodies, the people from the audience started cheering for the band making it clear that they all already knew them.

With a final welcoming word for the crowd, the dark-haired woman bowed to her audience and left the stage.

Elena subconsciously leaned forward, barely containing her excitement at the thought of getting to hear Damon sing live. The fact that The Nobodies were going to sing some of their new songs was a much-appreciated bonus.

Damon walked up to the microphone and glanced at his friends over his shoulder. With a nod, he gave them the signal to start.

The band started playing one of their first songs; one Elena had already listened to a thousand times in the matter of a couple of weeks. Since she already knew the song by heart, she decided to observe the members of the band playing live.

Bonnie seemed to be having the time of her life hitting away at her drums as if her life depended on it. She was completely focused on what she was doing, yet she managed to look carefree as her hands moved effortlessly over her drums in a harmonious tornado.

Caroline and Lorenzo strung their guitars with quick fingers never missing a note. Elena noticed how the two exchanged looks every once in a while, challenging the other with a smug smile or a daring wink. Their friendly musical banter stopped only when they had to lean closer to their microphones to join their voices to Damon's.

The whole band seemed to come alive in their music. This was the first concert Elena had ever seen live – the only ones she had seen were the ones she caught on TV – but she had never seen anyone so incredibly happy to play their music. Music seemed to be their only reason to live.

When Elena focused solely on Damon, her breath caught in her throat.

He looked positively radiant as he sung without a care in the world. He had a natural ease when on stage walking around it, microphone in hand, and basking in the cheering crowd. His body moved in synch with the music created by his companions, seemingly drawing strength from it. The way he gave himself completely to his love – and yes, Elena could actually _see_ how much he loved singing – was something heartbreakingly beautiful to witness.

And his voice – the voice that had drawn her in since the first time she had heard it – was simply out of this world.

Much like the picture Elena had seen of him had not done him justice, so the recorded voice she had listened to for weeks was nothing compared to the real thing.

Her father often complained about the fact that many artists chose to use auto-tune to obviate any lack of talent on their part. As a result, he said that any live-performance of these artists resulted in a major disappointment.

Now Damon wasn't perfect – after all, moving around the stage affected his breathing pattern which in turn affected the way he sang – but he was the closest thing to perfect Elena was likely to hear. The rich timbre of his voice invaded every corner of the theater-turned-club, and the passion he infused in every word he sang made his minor mistakes easily forgettable.

As Elena mouthed along the lyrics of the song, she started to feel a sort of electric current build in and around her. She glanced around to see if anyone else was feeling it but everyone seemed focused solely on the band playing on stage.

The song ended and after a brief pause to let Damon catch his breath, The Nobodies launched themselves into their next song.

Notes Elena had never heard before invaded the club. Soon, Damon's voice joined the ensemble and Elena listened closely to the words he sang, hoping to catch another glimpse of him in his lyrics.

 _Run and tell all of the angels  
This could take all night  
Think I need a devil to help me get things right  
Hook me up a new revolution  
'Cause this one is a lie  
We sat around laughing and watched the last one die_

Already after the first verse, she was hooked. The song had this nice upbeat rhythm that just made you want to shake your body and laugh out of pure joy. Without even being aware of it, Elena started following the beat of the song moving her body in synch with the music.

 _Think I'm done nursing patience  
It can wait one night  
I'd give it all away if you give me one last try  
We live happily ever trapped if you just save my life  
Run and tell the angels that everything's all right_

As Damon sang the second verse, Elena felt once again as if he were speaking directly about himself. It felt like a plea, a request thrown out to the world for someone to just answer him. Elena desperately wanted to be the one to reach out to him and give him whatever he was looking for. She couldn't explain the need she felt growing inside of her, it was like that electric current that had started to build while Damon sang became stronger and stronger the more she listened and understood him.

Throughout the song, Damon had looked straight at the crowd in front of him, only occasionally glancing at the upper levels. With all probability, he was simply too focused on what he was doing to pay attention to everyone dancing in the club at the rhythm of his song. When he sang the chorus for the second time, however, he looked up and slightly to the left.

The moment his eyes met hers, she felt the electric current inside of her reach its peak.

 _I'm looking to the sky to save me  
Looking for a sign of life  
Looking for something to help me burn out bright  
I'm looking for a complication  
Looking 'cause I'm tired of trying  
Make my way back home when I learn to fly high_

He maintained eye-contact with her throughout the chorus, no doubt making people wonder what the hell he was looking at so intently.

Elena's heart was beating so hard she was sure in a moment she would see it jump out of her chest. She couldn't believe what she was feeling. For all she knew, Damon was looking at Alaric to see what his manager thought of his performance; maybe he was looking at Father Kieran who – she only noticed in that moment – was standing right next to her. It was egotistic of her to think that he was looking right at her.

Yet she was sure his eyes had found hers among the hundreds of people looking at him.

She couldn't explain what came over her, but she started to laugh in uncontrollable happiness never breaking eye-contact with Damon. She wanted him to see what his music could do to her. She wanted him to know that she had heard the message hidden in his song loud and clear. She wanted to tell him that it could take a while, but she would figure everything out and she would fix whatever it was that he felt was broken inside of himself.

When Damon lowered his eyes and kept singing, the electric current that had taken a hold of Elena simply disappeared.

She almost felt like crying at the loss.

The rest of the concert went on without any more incidents. Damon never looked at her or the area she was in for the rest of his performance. Elena couldn't lie and say that it didn't sting a bit the way he seemed to avoid making eye-contact with her. Maybe he had felt that connection too and it scared him.

When The Nobodies left the stage, Elena and the others sat back at their table to wait for the band to join them.

Stefan looked around with nervous eyes and Father Kieran seemed tense as he nursed his beer. Elena was nervous for a whole different reason and Alaric seemed the only relaxed one. He probably had no idea what was going on around him.

"Father K!"

They all turned when a female voice shouted for Kieran's attention. The priest stood up just in time to catch Bonnie in his arms. They were both smiling widely as they leaned back.

"Did you enjoy the show? Did you see how I rocked those drums tonight? Man, I was on fire!"

Kieran laughed at her enthusiasm. "Yes, Bonnie I did enjoy the show and didn't I say you were going to play beautifully as always?"

When Bonnie turned to greet Alaric, she noticed the two additions to their usual table.

"Ric did you plan a meet and greet with some fans without telling us?" She asked with a frown.

"Nope." Ric said finishing his glass of bourbon.

The other members of the band reached their table just in time for Father Kieran to introduce their two guests without having to repeat himself.

"These are Elena and Stefan." He said pointing at them as he said their names. "They are friends I personally invited so please try to behave like civilized people, all right?"

Both Elena and Stefan expected the band to bury Kieran under a thousand questions, but they all just accepted the priest's explanation without batting an eye. After a moment spent shaking hands and introducing one selves, it was time to cram enough chairs around the table so that they could all sit down.

Elena had hoped for Stefan and Damon to end up seated one next to the other but Caroline claimed the space next to Stefan at lightning speed, Bonnie sitting down right to her side. Lorenzo sat down next to Alaric dragging Damon with him, saying that the Bourbon Posse needed to stick together. Because of that, Stefan found himself squeezed between Caroline and Alaric, while Elena found herself practically glued to Damon's side between him and Father Kieran.

When Damon turned to flag down a waitress and order all of them something to drink, Elena couldn't help and breathe in the musky perfume oozing from his body. She blushed furiously when she caught Bonnie's watchful eyes trained on her.

The rest of the evening passed quickly, far too quickly in Elena's opinion. Stefan kept glancing at Damon – who seemed determined to avoid any and all contact with his brother – while Caroline talked to him about anything and everything. She knew Stefan was dying for a moment with his brother but since they couldn't talk surrounded by all those people, he let Caroline distract him.

Elena noticed how soon he seemed genuinely involved in his conversation with the bubbly blonde.

For her part, Elena spoke mainly with Bonnie and Father Kieran. She discovered that she liked both of them a lot. They were nice people who she could see herself becoming friends with. From the brief exchanges she had with Lorenzo – or Enzo, as he insisted everyone called him – she was positive she wouldn't mind spending time with him too.

All through the night, Elena kept shivering every time Damon brushed against her as he moved in his seat. She did not miss how he seemed to tense with every brush.

When sometime later Elena checked her phone and saw it was already 11.30pm, she reluctantly told Stefan that they needed to go before their hotel decided to lock them out. Stefan looked startled and threw a wide-eyed glance at Damon who seemed locked in an intense battle of stares with Father Kieran. When the priest nodded briskly in Stefan's direction, Damon took a deep breath and offered to accompany the two of them to their hotel.

A silent stare from Kieran silenced whatever words were about to come from the mouth of the other members of The Nobodies.

The three of them bid everyone farewell and left the club, taking Stefan's car to drive back to the hotel. The car-ride was spent in an awkward, tense silence. Elena was not expecting things to go differently, the important thing was for the two of them to speak later.

Once all three reached the room Elena and Stefan were staying in, they all stood awkwardly in a circle. No one seemed willing to spoke first.

Elena decided she had to be the one to take initiative; otherwise, they would simply stand there until dawn.

"So…" She said. "I think I should leave the two of you alone so that you can, you know, speak in complete privacy and start to know each other, right?"

She walked to the door and opened it, turning to see Stefan staring at her with a lost expression.

"I'll go down to the bar and wait for you to talk." She informed them.

She threw Stefan a thumbs-up before closing the door behind her, leaving the two brother alone for the first time.

* * *

 **The song in this chapter was 'Learn to Fly' by Foo Fighters. If you already know this song, there is still and awesome video on YouTube titled 'Learn to Fly - Foo Fighters Rockin 1000' that you really need to watch to fully appreciate this song!**

 **Don't forget to follow and favorite if you like this story!**


	8. We Finally Meet

**AN: I know I am late posting this chapter but I just came home from an incredibly tiring day of work. You'll notice I have yet to answer to your reviews; I promise I will get to them as they were really amazing and you all deserve an answer to the kind words you left!**

 **Without further ado, I leave you to the chapter you have all been waiting for!**

* * *

Chapter 7 - We Finally Meet

Damon shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He felt Stefan's eyes following his every move as though the other man thought he could disappear at any moment. He supposed he couldn't fault Stefan, as he did indeed want to disappear. Damon was starting to second-guess his decision to meet with his brother – if Stefan even was his brother.

He never should have allowed Father Kieran to convince him to meet Stefan.

So the man in front of him had a picture with Damon in it, so what? Father Kieran had been sure the boy in the picture had been Damon, but he could have simply made a mistake. After all, 18 years had gone by.

Damon looked around the room and saw a minibar next to the desk where Stefan and his girlfriend had put some of their things. He walked toward it – Stefan's eyes always on him – and opened it. He pulled out a couple of travel-size bottles of whiskey. He turned toward Stefan.

"Do you mind?"

Stefan seemed startled by the question. He shook his head. "Go ahead. The glasses are in the kitchenette."

Damon walked toward the kitchenette in a corner of the room, and pulled out two glasses from a cupboard. He poured the two bottles of whiskey one in each glass, before throwing them in the trash. He walked back to Stefan and offered him one glass.

Stefan raised a hand to push away the offer. "I'm underage."

Damon cocked his head to the side. "Do I look like I'm gonna call the cops on you?"

Stefan gingerly grabbed the glass. He sniffed its content and looked at Damon with an unsure expression.

"Come on, drink it." Damon said with an encouraging nod. "We're definitely gonna need it for our conversation."

Damon tilted his head back and swallowed half the content of his glass in one gulp. Stefan seemed impressed by the way his brother knocked back the alcohol. With a deep breath, he took a long sip of the whiskey.

He swallowed it with a grimace. It tasted sweet as it burned down his throat.

Damon chuckled at his expression and slapped him on the shoulder. "You'll get used to it. It's an acquired taste."

He walked past Stefan – clinking their glasses together – and sat down on one of the two single beds in the small room. He raised an eyebrow at that; he thought Stefan and the pretty brunette – Elena he seemed to recall was her name – were together, so why two beds?

"Your girlfriend seemed really nice." He said, trying to ease into a conversation with his supposed-brother while also inquiring about his relationship with Elena.

"My girlfriend?" Stefan seemed confused as he went to sit down on the other bed.

Damon pointed at the door with the hand holding the half-empty glass of whiskey.

"Oh, you mean Elena." Stefan said, chuckling awkwardly at Damon unwavering stare. "She's not my girlfriend. She's my friend."

Damon was having a hard time believing him. "Just a friend? She followed you from…where do you live exactly?"

Stefan rubbed the back of his neck. "Mystic Falls."

"Never heard of it."

"It's a small town in Virginia."

Damon closed his eyes and shook his head. "Alright, so she accompanied you all the way from Mystic Whatever to Boston looking for me and, what? She's just a friend?"

Stefan shrugged his shoulders, not understanding what was so disconcerting about the fact that Elena was just his friend.

Damon hummed his surprise. "Must be a hell of a friend."

"Yeah, she is." Stefan immediately agreed.

Damon felt strangely relieved that there was nothing going on between the pretty brunette and Stefan. At least, now he knew that if he were to make a move on her he wouldn't be encroaching on someone else's territory. As much as he generally didn't care about rubbing people the wrong way, he wasn't one to go for women he knew were already taken.

He shook his head, pushing away all thoughts of Elena and focusing on the more pressing matter in front of him.

Damon drank what was left of his whiskey and stretched to set the empty glass on the nightstand.

He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, his eyes settling on Stefan. "Alright, I think it's time for us to address the proverbial 'elephant in the room'." He started, surprised at how calm his voice sounded to his ears. "Father Kieran told me that you believe we are brothers, correct?"

Stefan nodded.

"I admit I have a younger brother named Stefan who I last saw 18 years ago. How do I know you're that brother?"

Stefan stood up and went to the nightstand next to his bed. He opened the drawer and pulled out the picture he had prepared in case Damon would come back with him to the hotel room. He briefly hesitated before moving to sit next to the man he was sure was his brother.

"Here." Stefan said handing him the picture. "I found this picture more or less six months ago. It's what started everything. Do you recognize it?"

Damon slowly took the picture, his eyes trained on the familiar image. He observed the baby that he still saw in his dreams sometimes, on the nights he felt particularly nostalgic. Although he had always thought all babies looked alike when they were so little, he knew the one in the picture was definitely his baby brother.

When his eyes slid to the young boy who was holding the baby, he felt like he was about to drown in memories he'd rather forget. He looked at the younger version of him, at the way he smiled at Stefan with a genuinely happy smile. Damon almost rubbed his right wrist where the pendant his younger self clung to was currently resting against his skin.

He told himself that he was just imagining the burning feeling he felt where the iron of the pendant touched his skin.

"It's you isn't it?"

"Do you have a picture of your mother?" Damon ignored Stefan's question.

His brother – because Damon knew he was his brother – stood up to pull his phone out of his back pocket. Stefan's thumb moved nimbly over the phone's screen and soon he was tapping on the picture of his mother.

"This is her." Stefan said turning the phone toward Damon so that he could see it.

Damon looked at the woman smiling at the camera. 18 years had gone by since the last time he had seen that woman, but he immediately recognized his mother's blue eyes. Damon pushed away the phone and lowered his eyes to the floor.

"She's your mother too, right?" Stefan's voice did a piss-poor at hiding how excited he was feeling.

"Yeah." Damon said curtly.

And that was it. That was the incontrovertible proof that the two of them were brothers, beyond any reasonable doubt. Damon had been willing to believe that the picture Stefan had shown him could have been a fake, but there was no way Stefan could have faked his mother's picture.

Suddenly, Damon started to feel annoyed with the whole situation.

He heard Stefan laugh out in relief, joy or whatever he didn't even care, and it made him feel angry. Damon had never forgotten he had a brother somewhere and he had dreamt of reuniting with him, more than once if he was being honest with himself. Now that he was actually in the same room as Stefan, Damon couldn't help but feel a bout of red-hot anger growing in his chest.

Who had given Stefan the right to pop back into his life like this? He had been doing so well for the past few years and now this kid showed up at his doorstep and dropped the long-lost brother bomb in his lap.

What the hell?

Damon was so lost in his own mind that he didn't even feel it when Stefan raised his arm to sling it over his shoulders. What he did feel, was Stefan's hand curling around his shoulder and pulling him closer in what Stefan intended to be a warm hug. Damon didn't care about that, though.

He jumped to his feet and put some distance between him and his brother.

Stefan stood up a second later and tried to get closer to him.

"Damon, what's going on? Aren't you happy? We're brothers!" Stefan told him, a big smile stretching his lips. "For six months I tried to find a clue that would lead me to you and now I'm here, _we_ 're here and it's just…" He kept taking unaware of the storm raging inside his brother's mind. "We can get to know each other and we can be a family like we were supposed to be from the beginning."

Damon turned to look at him with a wild look in his eyes.

"I shouldn't have come." He said.

Stefan frowned at his words. "What are you talking about?"

Damon ran his fingers through his hair looking around the hotel room. "This was all a mistake."

He should have never allowed Father Kieran to convince him to meet Stefan. He should have followed his first impulse – that of ignoring Stefan's request – and just gone on with his life as if nothing happened. Why did he ever think that meeting the brother he hadn't seen in 18 years would be a good thing?

Damon shook his head, his breathing slowly getting faster as he realized what he had allowed to happen. He was trapped. He was in a room with a brother he knew nothing about who reminded him of the worst day of his life without even realizing it.

He had made the wrong choice.

Stefan advanced slowly toward him, hands up like he was approaching a dangerous animal he didn't want to spook.

"Damon, this wasn't a mistake, you just need to calm down for a moment so we can talk, okay?" He said, hoping his soothing tone would calm down his brother.

Damon took a step back, his eyes finally settling on his brother again. Stefan had the impression his brother wasn't actually seeing him. Damon kept shaking his head left and right while moving closer and closer to the door.

"I can't do this. I really can't do this, right now." He said, his eyes never leaving Stefan's.

"Damon wait, we can talk about this. Please, don't leave." Stefan pleaded with him.

Damon closed his fingers around the door-handle. For a moment, as he looked into Stefan's pleading eyes, he considered staying and working through the situation. He could almost see it happen in front of his eyes; he would sit down, they would talk and they would lay down the first stone in the tortuous path they had in front of themselves.

For just a moment, he believed in the possibility of truly reuniting with his brother.

"I'm sorry, Stefan." Damon said. "But I really can't do this."

He wrenched the door open and took off, not even bothering to close the door behind himself.

He walked quickly to the elevator and kept pushing the button to call it at his floor, eager to leave the hotel where he was still too close to Stefan. He jumped inside as soon as the doors opened and thanked the late hour for the blissful lack of people inside the car. As he watched the numbers of the floors flash on the display over the doors of the elevator, he felt something start to tighten in his chest.

He was suffocating, the air inside the hotel pressing down on him as though he was slipping deeper and deeper in the murky waters of a marsh.

He needed to get some fresh air. He couldn't have stayed in that room with Stefan a moment longer. On some level, Damon had already known that Stefan was his brother. Apart from the fact that Kieran had recognized Damon in the picture Stefan had shown him, there was the fact that he had felt the connection with Stefan.

When he had seen the younger man sitting next to Father Kieran at _Transition_ , Damon had felt his heart speed up. Of course, he had no way of knowing what his little brother looked like after 18 years but there had been something about him that had made it clear to Damon that that man had been his brother.

Maybe it was all about Stefan's eyes, the one thing that hadn't changed since he was a child.

The doors of the elevator slid open and Damon almost ran out of it, making a beeline for the revolving doors of the hotel. As soon as he was out, he took a deep breath to let the night air wash over him like a soothing balm. Damon crossed the street and let himself fall on a solitary bench between two trees.

He leaned his elbows on his knees and let his head fall in his hands.

The sense of oppression he'd felt inside the hotel was slowly fading away with every calming breath he took. What wasn't fading away was the anger that had grown inside of him as Stefan kept talking in that excited tone of voice. He'd been talking about getting to know each other and becoming a family and Damon had simply snapped.

How could they be a family after what had happened in the past?

Granted, Stefan had apparently discovered about his existence mere months before but had he never thought about what could have caused their separation? How had Stefan justified to himself Damon's absence in his life? He had started talking about being family as though expecting Damon to just smile and reunite with him and his mother without even considering that maybe he didn't want anything to do with them.

Stefan had made him feel like he had no control over everything that was happening and he just couldn't stand that.

Damon clenched his jaw as he felt unwanted memories prod the edge of his mind. The meeting with Stefan had rattled him, making him lower his guard and letting the past creep in. He should have known this would happen.

Once again, Damon asked himself why he had agreed to this absurdity.

He gripped his hair in his fingers and pulled at it; the slight sting helped him ground himself in the present.

"Are you okay?"

Damon snapped his head up. Stefan's friend – Elena, he reminded himself – was standing in front of him, looking at him with worried eyes. He supposed he couldn't really blame her for the way she was looking at him, after all he was the one on the edge of an emotional crisis of considerable proportions.

He leaned back on the bench resting his arms on its backrest. "I'm peachy." He said, lips curling automatically into a smile.

Elena didn't look convinced. "Can I sit next to you?"

Damon shrugged his shoulders. "It's a free country; you can do what you want."

Elena sat down far enough to leave him the space he needed, but close enough to make it clear she had no intention to leave him alone. Damon did not move the arm he had resting on the back of the bench, an innocuous way to make her squirm since he was sure she wouldn't lean back on his arm. They didn't know each other, after all.

To his surprise, she did lean back. Her back pressed against the bench and her head leaned against his forearm. The way she looked him straight in the eye, almost daring him to say something, let him know that she knew exactly what he had been trying to do. His fingers twitched in response to her defying eyes and brushed against her hair.

Damon found himself already liking her spirit.

"So, I take it things between you and Stefan did not go well?"

Damon tilted his head to the side. "What gave it away? Was it me hightailing it from the hotel or was it the whole head in hands thing?" He didn't even try to hide his sarcasm.

"I'd say it's a combination of both." Elena fake-whispered to him, replying to his sarcasm in kind. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Damon immediately felt a barrier slamming up between them. He moved around in his seat and looked ahead at the hotel that loomed over them. He almost feared that in a moment Stefan could walk out of it and find him sitting on that bench.

He looked sideways at Elena. "I'm really not in the mood for this conversation. Especially not with my brother's best friend." He said making a conscious effort to not be rude.

There was a long silence after his words. Damon wondered if perhaps Elena was searching for the right way to leave him at his silent brooding. She gave him the impression of being the kind of person incapable of leaving anyone to suffer alone.

That and she seemed way too polite to just leave him there without saying a word.

Suddenly she stood up; maybe he had been wrong after all.

Elena turned to look at him. "Let's go for a walk."

Damon furrowed his brow, convinced he had misheard her. "Pardon me?"

"I said let's go for a walk."

"Are you serious?" Had she gone mad?

Elena nodded without missing a beat. "Yeah, I've been here in Boston for a few days and I've yet to see what this city has to offer. I mean, I've visited a couple of touristy places but I want to see the city, you know what I mean? And who better to show me around than someone who's lived here his whole life?"

Damon kept looking at her without saying a word. The thing was, her offer was tempting in a way. Still, that hardly seemed the right moment to go sightseeing. For one, they really didn't know each other which could make for really awkward silences. For two, he wasn't sure he was in the mood to play city-guide to her.

Elena was still waiting for him to say something.

"You're actually serious." He said, dumbfounded.

"I thought we had already established that." At his silence, she sighed. "Look, you're clearly troubled right now and you don't want to talk about whatever is troubling you; which is cool. Now, when I have a problem I need to solve I like to walk."

She stopped talking and looked at the sky, seemingly deep in thought.

"Actually my first solution would be listening to some good music, but that's neither here nor now." She waved her hand as if to dispel those thought. "So what do you say?"

Damon almost told her no but then he thought; was this really the worst way to end the night? A beautiful girl was asking him to accompany her in a quick trip through the city and he was actually considering refusing her offer? He scowled at himself.

Damon rose to his feet with a brief sigh.

"Where would you like to go?" He asked her, offering her his arm in a teasing way.

Elena smiled at him and slid her arm in his. "You decide."

Damon looked down at her, surprised once again by the way she took him in stride without backing down from a challenge – as teasing as that challenge had been.

The two walked together through the streets of the town with no precise destination in mind. Every now and then, Elena would ask questions about particular places that she found interesting and Damon would answer her, pointing out a shop that would sell old trinkets here and a small joint that made the best sandwiches in town there.

They steered clear of anything too personal, only Elena would occasionally share tidbits about herself. She understood his reluctance in opening up to someone he didn't know and that had shown up out of nowhere without giving him time to warm up to them. Elena didn't mind sharing pieces of herself with him as she hoped that they could become friends; if she had to be the one to take the first step, so be it.

Damon proved himself an excellent listener.

Never once did he gave her the impression that he was simply nodding along without actually paying attention to her. More than once, he asked her to elaborate on some particular she had just shared and he seemed genuinely interested in her.

At some point in their walk, they ended up sitting on a bench facing Boston's Harbor.

The moon in the sky was covered by clouds, making the ocean an inky mass of white-tipped waves crashing against the harbor. There weren't a lot of people in the area that late at night so the only sound that surrounded them was that of the rolling waves of the ocean.

"Tell me something about yourself." Damon said without tearing his eyes away from the ocean.

Elena turned to look at him. "I've been telling things about myself all night."

She saw the corner of his mouth lift in a half-smile.

"Those were just random memories. I want to know more about you like, I don't know, are you currently studying something?"

Elena leaned back on the bench, hands abandoned in her lap. "I've just finished high-school and at the end of summer I will go to college."

"Alright, that's something. Which college did you choose?"

"Columbia. Stefan will go there too."

Damon whistled lowly. "I'm sitting next to a future Columbia-girl, huh?" He said with a teasing smile. "And what do you want to do after college?"

Elena sighed and tilted her head back to look at the night sky. "Honestly? I don't know yet. I like to write so I was thinking about going into journalism, but I don't know."

She heard the bench creak slightly when Damon shifted in his seat. "Well, you don't have to figure everything out right now. You've still got time."

Elena turned her head to the left to look at him. "What about you? Did you go to college?"

He released a short chuckle. "No, college wasn't in the cards for me. I finished high-school and I was done with everything."

She frowned a little at this. If she remembered correctly, Mr. Simmons – the director of the orphanage –, had said that Damon lived with his father in a rich part of the city. The way Damon had said that college hadn't been in the cards for him made it seem like a question of money, a problem he shouldn't have had. Maybe he had decided to forego college in favor of pursuing his musical career.

"How did you end up being the lead singer in a band?" She asked him.

Damon turned to look at her raising his left leg to plant his feet on the bench, his arm casually slung over his bent knee. "How does anyone end up anywhere? Pure chance. Father Kieran discovered I liked music and I wasn't so bad at singing and he decided to take me to the orphanage he had founded. He ran a little music program for the kids who lived there. Enzo and the others loved music as much as I did and the rest, as they say, is history."

"You make it sound easy." She said.

Damon's smiled bitterly at her. "Trust me; nothing was ever easy for me."

"What do you mean?"

He didn't answer. Instead he looked back at the ocean. Elena decided to let go and not push him for answers he evidently didn't want to give her. She had only met him hours ago but she was already starting to understand that Damon was a complicated man. That subtle electric current she had felt during the concert was still present between them and she wondered if he felt it too.

By the way he looked at her some times, she believed he did.

"Do you feel like talking about Stefan now?" She asked him to dispel the silence around them.

Damon didn't move. "I knew you wouldn't be able to let it go."

"It's just that sometimes it's easier to talk to someone you don't really know. I don't know if you told your friends about Stefan but with me you're safe; I already know you two are brothers."

"How?" He asked her glancing at her form the corner of his eye.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Apart from your general sullen mood? You called me 'my brother's best friend'; that was telling enough."

He nodded at her words and went back to looking at the ocean. He had indeed called her that without even realizing he was calling Stefan 'my brother'. In all fairness, he wasn't thinking straight at the time.

Elena remained silent at his side. He knew she was waiting for him to fess up and tell her what the problem was. A part of him thanked her for being so kind as to lend him an ear, a possibility to talk without fearing judgment. Even if he didn't know that much about her, he knew she wouldn't betray the trust put in her; she just wasn't that kind of person.

Another part of him, though, did not want to say anything. Did not want to admit to the truth he knew.

Just like in the hotel room, saying the words out loud made everything real. He already felt somewhat different after realizing he had used the word 'brother' referring to Stefan. He had no way of going back now; whether he wanted it or not, Stefan was truly his brother and that couldn't be changed.

He no longer had a choice.

"I was seven years old the last time I saw Stefan." He said without looking at her. "Throughout the years as I walked through the streets of Boston, I would look around and search his face in the crowd. I had no way of knowing what he looked like; maybe he was the boy I saw crossing the street as he went to school, maybe the one playing with his friends in the park."

Damon stroke his hands down his face.

"All these years I imagined the day I found my brother to be a happy one. I imagined me embracing him, asking him where he'd been all these years, what had his life been like."

"You didn't feel happy?" Elena asked him, trying to understand.

Damon smiled bitterly. "He said we were going to be a family and I just felt so angry. I just…" He didn't finish the sentence.

Elena remained silent, collecting her thoughts. When she spoke, she chose her words carefully. "Damon, we don't want to force you into doing anything. We didn't come here to open old wounds or disturb the life you have created for yourself."

"It certainly doesn't feel like it." He rebuked.

"Try to put yourself in his shoes." She defended her friend. "This situation is hard on everyone. I can't imagine what it's been like for you to see Stefan after 18 years, but try to imagine what it was like discovering you had a brother out of the blue. I mean, how do you deal with something like this?"

She watched him closely. He refused to meet her eyes, choosing instead to stare at the ocean as if it held all the answers to his problems. Still, she knew he was listening to her.

"I've said this to Father Kieran and I'll say it to you." She told him, her voice softening now that she was trying to convince him of her and Stefan's good intentions. "Stefan and I don't know what happened in the past and neither one of us will demand you to tell us. The last thing Stefan wants is to cause you pain; he even agreed to never contact you again had you chosen not to meet him."

Damon clenched his jaw as he listened to her words.

"Stefan is a good person, Damon. He only wants the chance to get to know you, that's it." She said. "I can't force you to do anything – no one can – but please, please just give him, give both of you, a chance to make things work."

Damon turned to look at her. Elena saw a curious light in his eyes as he furrowed his brows in a confused expression. It looked like he was trying to figure out something; he looked at her like she was a puzzle he thought he had solved and that now revealed itself to be more complicated than expected.

"You care about him." He said, almost surprised.

Elena just stared at him. "He's my best friend." She simply said.

He nodded at her words as if he had been expecting nothing less from her.

Damon turned to cast one last glance at the rolling mass of the ocean before sighing and standing up. She remained sitting, tilting her head back to look him in the eye as he turned toward her.

"It's late." He said. "I'll accompany you back at the hotel."

The walk back was done completely in silence. It suited Elena just fine. She had said what she had needed to say; there was nothing else to add for the moment. When she chanced a look at her silent companion, she saw him deep in thought. She hoped he was mulling over her words and that he would come to the decision that he wanted to get to know Stefan.

When they arrived at the hotel, they stopped by the steps leading to the entrance of the building.

Elena shuffled her feet, unsure on how to bid Damon goodnight. Thankfully, he spared her the pain of coming up with anything to say.

"I will think about what you said." He told her. "I can't promise anything but I will think about it."

She nodded, understanding that this was a huge step for him.

"That's all I ask."

The two stared at each other. As he looked into her deep brown eyes, Damon felt the air thicken around them. By the way she moved closer to him, he knew Elena felt it too. When her eyes fell to his lips, Damon started to lean forward. He didn't even know why he was doing what he was doing, his body was just moving on its own.

For just a moment, he felt sure she would let him kiss her. He was already imagining what her lips would feel like against his own; what she would taste and sound like.

At the last moment, Elena seemed to shake herself out of the haze they had both fell in.

She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his cheek in a chaste kiss, murmured a 'goodnight' against his skin and turned away.

Damon followed her with his eyes until her retreating back disappeared beyond the hotel's doors.

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	9. Let's Get to It

**AN: Sorry, I'm incredibly late for this update and, once again, I have yet to reply to your reviews! I will reply to them, I promise! By the way, I noticed I received less reviews than usual and I was wondering if you guys didn't like something in the last chapter. I'm not one to hold my stories hostage to get more reviews; this is just me being curious. If you don't like something or you feel like the chapter is not as good as it could be, I encourage you to tell me! I always welcome the possibility to improve my writing.**

 **Enjoy tonight's chapter!**

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Chapter 8 - Let's Get to It

In hindsight, Damon knew that trying to hide what was going on in his life was not going to work. For one, his friends were way too attuned to him to miss when something was upsetting him. For two, he happened to live with one of said friends so he had no way of just shutting himself away for a couple of days to deal with everything in his own time.

The morning after his walk with Elena – and no, he was not even going to try and analyze what her kiss on the cheek meant – he woke up at the crack of dawn, after a frustrating night spent tossing and turning in bed without actually sleeping.

He had shuffled his way to the kitchen on heavy feet with the intent of cooking a breakfast delicious enough to give him new life. The usual finesse he usually displayed when flipping pancakes seemed to fail him that morning, leaving him even more frustrated than before when his normally golden pancakes displayed dark brown spots that testified to Damon's carelessness while cooking.

The fact that there was barely enough orange-juice for two in the fridge, was just another crappy detail in a crappy morning.

It was no wonder, really, that when Enzo sat down for breakfast – enticed by the sweet aroma of Damon's cooking just like every morning – he only had to glance at the plate put down in front of him with unusual forcefulness to realize that something was wrong with his friend.

"You didn't put a smiley face on the pancakes today." Enzo said off-handedly.

Damon stabbed a piece of pancake and stuffed it in his mouth.

"So?"

"I'm just not used to this serious-looking pancake, that's all." Enzo shrugged his shoulders throwing a glance at Damon.

Damon remained silent for so long that Enzo thought he was not going to say anything else for rest of the meal. He was already thinking of some other way to get his friend to confide in him when Damon set his fork down, took a sip of his orange-juice, and looked up with serious eyes.

"I just don't feel like putting smiley faces anywhere this morning."

Enzo nodded and kept eating his breakfast. Yesterday evening Damon had been simply euphoric, the success they had encountered during their time on stage should have provided him with enough reasons to feel like the king of the world. Since Damon looked the exact opposite of lively that morning, something must have happened to spoil his mood in the brief period of time he had spent on his own.

The only thing Enzo could think of that could have rubbed Damon the wrong way, was the presence of the two strangers at their table the night before.

Enzo had not had the chance to speak with them enough to judge their characters, but they were Father Kieran's friends so he had taken for granted that they were nice people.

Maybe something had happened between them and Damon when he had offered to accompany them back to their hotel.

Enzo finished eating his pancakes and stood up taking both of their plates. He put the plates in the sink and grabbed the moka he had purchased on the Internet on a particularly boring day to prepare some coffee for the both of them.

As he filled the bottom part of the moka with water from the tap, Damon turned around in his chair to look at him.

"You making coffee?" He asked, a spark of interest finally present in his voice.

Enzo nodded scooping up two or three spoons of ground coffee and pouring it carefully on the small cup he had placed on top of the water-filled bottom part. He screwed the top-part of the moka to the bottom-part and placed it on the stove.

"If we want to survive the rest of the day, we're going to need our dear friend Mr. Coffee." Enzo said turning on the stove.

"Amen, brother." Damon agreed.

As he waited for the coffee to brew, Enzo turned and leaned his back against the counter. "So what happened after you offered to accompany the two kids back to their hotel?"

Enzo saw how Damon's entire body seemed to tense. Uh. So something did happen with those two.

"Why would anything have happened? I just accompanied them so they wouldn't get lost in a city they don't know."

Normally Enzo would have believed him – it wasn't the first time that Damon accompanied Father Kieran's friends or acquaintances back to their place. This time, however, Enzo just knew his friend was not telling him the truth – not all of it, at least.

"I'm just saying, you came home awfully late last night and this morning you look like you want to murder someone."

Enzo turned back to the moka when he heard the tell-tale sound that the coffee was ready. He opened the cabinet over the stove and took two coffee cups out. He carefully grabbed the handle of the moka and poured the coffee into the two mugs he had prepared and added a spoonful of sugar to one of the two, knowing Damon liked his coffee a bit sweet.

"Judging by your sour mood, I can only guess that the pretty brunette did not fall for your advances." Enzo said setting a cup of coffee in front of Damon and sitting down in front of him with his own cup in hand.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Damon looked beyond confused by his words.

"The pretty brunette? The one that got you all riled up as soon as you sat next to her?" Enzo said, thinking that Damon was simply pretending to not remember. "Trust me when I say it's better that nothing happened. She looked like a one-way ticket to jail." He said pointing at Damon with his spoon.

Damon drank his cup of coffee all in one gulp before looking at Enzo with an expression that said that the other man had not understand a single thing.

"I did not accompany those two so that I could have a chance to seduce Elena – yes, that's her name." Damon said enunciating each word clearly as if spelling it to a five-year-old kid. "And by the way, she's 18 so if anything happened it would have been completely legal."

"Then what's got you into such a bleak mood?" Enzo asked, exasperated by the lack of explanation. "Does it have something to do with the concert? I thought you were happy with our performance."

Damon ran his hands through his hair, blowing out a breath. "The concert was great, _we_ were great, everything was great."

Enzo leaned forward on the table. "Damon, tell me what's wrong. I can't help if I don't know what the problem is."

Damon exhaled heavily through his nose, his hands gripping the empty cup of coffee as if it was an anchor keeping him grounded.

"It's a complicated story, Enzo. You can't help me with this one, brother."

Enzo debated whether to push a little bit more or not. He could see that whatever happened last night was clearly troubling his friend. Enzo was aware that when Damon decided not to tell anyone about his problems, there was simply no way to force him to do otherwise. It had always been like that with him; Damon always tried to cope with whatever life threw at him on his own.

After all the years they had known each other, Damon was still reluctant to lean on others for help.

As much as Enzo understood where his friend's attitude came from – all of them had similar problems after all – he still wished there was a way to make him understand that he didn't have to do everything by himself. He had people who cared about him and would help him if he only asked.

With a mental sigh, Enzo decided to let the matter go for the moment.

"Just tell me something; will all this influence your work with the band?" Enzo asked instead.

Damon shook his head without hesitation. "Absolutely not. You know I would never allow anything to interfere with the band. We're too close to making it."

Enzo nodded, partially relieved by his friends determined words. "Then I won't ask for an explanation for now." He said.

Damon nodded with a small thankful smile.

"I just want you to promise me that when you feel the need to talk about…whatever it is that is going on," Enzo made a vague gesture with his hand, "you can talk to me or the girls, even Father Kieran if you think he'd be better at helping you than us."

Damon shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "I'm more than capable of taking care of myself." He said with an offended tone.

Enzo inclined his head to dismiss the subtle challenge in Damon's words. "I know you can. Just saying you don't have to."

With those last words, Enzo stood up and finished his cup of coffee. He grabbed Damon's cup too and put both of them in the sink, next to the dirty plates they had used during breakfast. Usually they would wash the dishes immediately after breakfast – Damon was anal like that – but today they were running late in their schedule.

"Go get dressed while I go call the girls." Enzo said slapping Damon on the back on his way to the apartment's door. "Ric wants us at the studio as soon as possible."

Damon stood up and shrugged his shoulders, shaking himself out of his gloomy mood to get ready for the day. When Ric told them to get to the studio first thing in the morning, it meant he had either spectacularly good or awfully bad news. Their performance last night had been phenomenal so Damon was leaning more toward the spectacularly good news.

He jogged to his bedroom and quickly changed his clothes. He decided for a pair of low-slung cargo shorts that reached just under his knee and a long-sleeved, grey linen t-shirt. He stopped briefly in his bathroom to spray on some cologne and finger-comb his hair as best as he could. He had given up properly combing his hair when he had realized that it simply wouldn't stay put.

On his way out, he grabbed his wallet and his keys. In the hallway outside his apartment, Enzo was already waiting for him with Caroline and Bonnie at his side. The two girls lived in the apartment right in front of the one owned by Damon and Enzo, only the hallway separating them. Caroline had been the one insisting they bought these two apartments so that they could all live close to each other.

"Finally, we've been waiting for you!" Caroline's clear voice rang out in the hallway.

"You had to wait for me for just five minutes. You usually don't extend the same courtesy to the rest of the world." Damon said knowingly goading Caroline into an argument.

"That's only because not everyone can just roll out of bed looking like a freaking model." Caroline said, as predicted. The blonde gestured to her face as the four of them walked out of the building. "This perfection requires time."

Bonnie groaned next to her friend and turned toward her with pleading eyes. "Please, please spare us the details of your morning routine!"

Caroline glared at her friend. "Oh, shush you! As if you weren't even worse than him with your perfect skin and your always perfectly combed hair! Seriously, what did I do to get you two as friends?"

Enzo leaned close to Damon's ear as they reached the metro that would take them to their studio in the city-center. "You just had to rile her up, didn't you?"

Damon's shit-eating smile only spread at his words. "I thought you'd appreciate me going back to my unbearable self."

Enzo scoffed at his friends words, catching Caroline's attention.

"Do you have something you need to share, Enzo?"

"Absolutely not, gorgeous."

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him, no doubt already planning how to get back at all of them for their complete lack of sympathy for her situation. With a final flip of her hair over her shoulder, she strode toward the platform where they all stopped to wait for their train.

As they waited, Damon found himself dwelling on his talk with Elena the night before. He tuned out the sound of his friends talking among themselves and started to think about what he should do about Stefan.

As much as he didn't want to think about the situation he found himself in, Damon knew he couldn't simply ignore it. Stefan was staying only temporarily in Boston, but even so he would demand an explanation on what had happened the night before in that hotel room. Damon couldn't even hide and hope Stefan would simply give up because he was sure his brother would not hesitate in going to Father Kieran, if necessary.

Apart from that, Damon simply couldn't do that to him, not after all Stefan had done to find him.

The train arrived and the four friends waited patiently for the crowd to descend before walking inside the train.

Damon leaned his back against the metal pole in the middle of the train as it sped away through Boston's underground.

He tried to focus on what he had felt the night before. First and foremost, there had been incredulity obviously. That was the most predictable feeling so Damon decided to move on to the next one, anger. Why exactly had he felt angry? The obvious reason was because Stefan's appearance simply unsettled his life in a way Damon was certainly not okay with.

In the 18 years he had spent without his mother and brother, Damon had managed to move on. Yes, he had imagined what it would be like to see his brother again – who wouldn't have? – but his life had not stopped because of his loss. Thanks to Father Kieran and his friends, he had found a purpose, something he loved doing and that he wanted to succeed in.

The new family he had found had gradually filled the empty hole inside of him caused by Stefan's absence.

Damon dug a little deeper to find a reason for his anger. Only when Stefan had mentioned being the family they were supposed to be, had Damon's anger truly swelled inside of him. He understood Stefan's desire to get to know him to the point of become truly family, but Stefan's words had a deeper meaning in them.

The fact that Stefan had said 'the family we are supposed to be' to Damon sounded a lot like saying 'the family you, me and mom are supposed to be'. Maybe Stefan hadn't meant it like that, but that's the message Damon had received. Those words seemed to imply that Damon would have to go back to that little Virginia town Stefan had said he came from – he honestly couldn't remember its name – to meet their mother.

The mere thought of seeing Lily again after 18 years filled Damon with unease. And fear, if he was being honest with himself.

If Damon had spent a lot of time imagining what it would have been like to see his brother, it was nothing compared to the time he had imagined what would have been like to see Lily.

For all his imagination, Damon had never figured out exactly what he wanted to say to her. In some of his scenarios, he screamed obscenities at her for having abandoned him. Other times, he remained silent as she explained her reasons only to leave her alone much like she had left him. In his weakest moments, Damon cried as he hugged her and begged her to come back and never leave him again.

Damon had never thought the time would actually come when he would have to meet her again. Stefan seemed to want a full-on family reunion but Damon really didn't like that idea.

In the end, that was the problem.

If Damon wanted to get to know his brother – and, when he thought about it, he realized he really wanted to – he would have to make it clear that he had his own life now, that he already had a family and that he didn't need nor want another.

He was more than willing to try and salvage the brotherly bond with Stefan, but that was it. There would be no meetings with Lily or with Stefan's other family if he had one – and Damon very much believed he had. He already had a brother – two now if things went well – and two sisters, he didn't want Stefan's possible other siblings too.

By the time the band reached the studio where Alaric was waiting for them, Damon felt like he was finally back to his former self. He would give Stefan – and himself – a chance to see where their relationship could go, while also keeping his life and his past safely separated. It was the perfect solution, really.

Inside the studio, Damon and the others went in search for Ric. They found him talking with a man none of them had ever seen before.

"Here they are." Ric said to the man he was talking to when the band arrived. "I was about to call you guys. Where have you been? I asked you to be here first thing in the morning."

Enzo stepped forward with an easy smile playing on his lips. "We had a rough morning, Ric. We were still high from yesterday's success."

Alaric couldn't hide the way his lips curved into a small smile. "I can't say that I blame you, you were pretty amazing last night." He said in a lowered tone of voice.

"Who's the new guy?" Bonnie asked the question all of them were itching to voice.

She was looking at the tall, dark-skinned man with suspicious eyes. Bonnie had never been great at meeting new people, usually coming out as rude or cold even when she really wasn't trying to. Her first few months at the orphanage, she had barely spoken to anyone. Only Caroline's arrival had saved her from boring days spent on her own.

Caroline's sunny disposition made her absolutely perfect for meeting new people and immediately making herself liked by everyone. Over the years, some of her lively personality had rubbed off on Bonnie but the latter still depended on the blonde for making a good first impression.

Ric raised his hands to stave off any other question. "All in good time. First, let's move to a more comfortable location."

The band plus the still unnamed man followed Ric as he led them through the hallways. The older man brought them to a small but cozy living room where he told everyone to take a seat and relax.

Bonnie and Caroline immediately took possession of the low, black leather couch on one side of the room. After a brief glance at Damon, Enzo decided to perch on one of the couch's armrests right next to Bonnie. Damon opted to sit at the round table in the middle of the room, the unnamed man sitting down next to him.

Ric walked up to a second door in the room, opened it and leaned over the threshold to speak with someone the other occupants of the room couldn't see.

"Could you bring us something to eat and maybe a round of coffee for everyone? Thank you."

Ric closed the door and went to sit down at the table with Damon and the dark-skinned man. Five minutes later, a young man entered the room pushing a cart with pastries, sandwiches and three or four thermoses filled with coffee. Ric motioned for him to leave everything in the room and the man – with a silent nod toward the other people in the room – left without saying a word.

"Anyone want some coffee?" Ric asked.

Bonnie and Caroline stood up to grab a cup each, while both Damon and Enzo decided to forgo another cup. Damon was definitely feeling more grounded than that morning, no need to ruin what progress he'd made with another cup of coffee not even an hour after his first.

"Ric is there a reason you told us to get here early or did you just want to play mother hen with us?" Damon asked as everyone got back into their seats.

Alaric rolled his eyes at Damon's words, leaning back in his chair and taking a sip from his cup of coffee.

"I see you're as snarky as ever, Damon. Yes, I did have a reason for making you come here and that reason is last night's concert."

"You said we did great." Caroline quipped from her place on the couch.

"I did and it was the truth. You were simply amazing." Caroline smiled with satisfaction at those words of praise. "In fact, I was not the only one who noticed what an outstanding performance you gave."

"What do you mean? Did someone say something to you?" Bonnie asked excited at the prospect of someone else – someone Alaric himself felt was worth mentioning – saying something about them.

Ric watched all of them with a pleased smile, shrugging his shoulders as he nonchalantly spoke. "I invited a friend to the concert and asked her to pay attention to you guys. She was really impressed by you, I'll tell you that. She said you're definitely the most promising rock-band she has seen in years."

"Wait, wait, wait." Damon raised a hand to stop Ric before he could say anything else. "Who is this friend you invited and why should we care about her opinion? I mean, no offense Ric, but the only friends of yours I care about are the ones who own record labels. All your other friends are boring people studying boring stuff that happened hundreds of years ago."

Alaric's smile turned positively smug as he listened to Damon. "Well, my friend happens to be Meredith Fell, you know the owner of Deep Blue? The independent record label with close ties with Sony?"

"Shut up." Bonnie and Enzo both said in a stunned whisper.

Damon was looking at Ric with owlish eyes. "Did I ever mention how much I love your friends?" He said, a smile beginning to lift the corner of his mouth.

"Not recently but I'm sure you'll start singing their praise when I tell you that Meredith wants you guys to record an album."

Caroline, Bonnie and Enzo jumped to their feet and moved closer to where Damon was sitting in a shocked silence. The three of them gripped his shoulders, almost needing any kind of physical contact to convince them that this was actually happening, that they weren't all in some kind of collective hallucination.

Damon took a deep breath and spoke quietly. "Ric, I swear to God I'll have a heart-attack right here in this chair if you tell me that you're joking and that we're not going to record our _first_ ever album."

An amused chuckle came from the man they all had forgotten was even in the room in the midst of all that was happening.

"I assure you, Mr. Salvatore, that Mr. Saltzman is not lying. Ms. Fell herself sent me here so that we could start recording the first song as soon as possible."

The four members of the band looked at him in stunned silence as the news started to sink in. They were going to record their first album. They had been striving for this moment since the moment Alaric had told them he wanted to be their manager. No, scratch that. They had been working, fighting and toiling for this moment since the second they had realized that music was the only thing they needed to survive in the whole world.

"This is Marcel Gerard." Ric finally introduced the African-American man. "He is here to see us safely through the whole recording, mixing and editing part of the album recording."

Marcel looked at the four members of the band with a friendly smile. "If it's okay with you guys, I would like to start right now. We have a lot of ground to cover so the sooner we start the better."

Damon shook himself out of the stupor that had taken a hold of him and tried to find his voice. "Sure, sure…" He said in a breath. "Uh, could you just…give me a second? Thank you."

He stood up on shaky legs, everyone's eyes on him. Marcel looked baffled while Alaric reached for his phone in his pocket, afraid that Damon was really going to have a heart attack. Caroline, Bonnie and Enzo were all staring wide-eyed at their lead-singer, waiting for him to do something they didn't even know.

The whole room waited with baited breath for Damon to speak.

Damon grabbed Enzo's shoulder with one hand and Caroline's with the other. His eyes locked with each one of his friends before settling on Bonnie. His expression was so serious – eyes hard, mouth nothing more than a thin line – that his friends started to feel genuinely worried for him. Damon was so still he looked like a wax statue straight out of Madame Tussauds.

Bonnie was the first to notice the twitch of his lips accompanied by the twinkle in his bright blue eyes. She started smiling back at him before she even knew what she was doing. Soon they were all smiling and chuckling together as Damon's fake serious façade inexorably crumbled under the weight of his happiness.

"We did it!" He laughed tugging Enzo and Caroline closer. "We're going to record an album!"

"We're going to record an album!"

Bonnie sobbed as she slung her arms over Caroline and Enzo's shoulders.

"We're going to record an album!"

Enzo buried his fingers into Bonnie's hair as she leaned into him.

"We're so going to record an album!"

Caroline took a step forward to press her forehead against Damon's neck, bringing all four into a group-hug. They kept laughing and sobbing for what felt like an eternity as they basked in the sense of victory at what they had managed to accomplish.

That dream that had seemed so completely unreachable for four orphans with only a priest to guide them through life as best as he could, was now so close they could almost taste it.

As Alaric watched his protégées laugh and cry at the news he had given them, he thanked God or whatever entity existed that he had found that small band that had dared to dream big without fearing the future.

~.~

"Alright, guys. I think this is enough for this morning. Go take a break, we'll continue recording in the afternoon. Great job, everyone."

As soon as Marcel gave them permission to put down their instruments, they all heaved a collective sigh of relief. Caroline and Enzo leaned their guitars against the walls of the recording room, while Bonnie stood up to stretch her back and Damon simply let himself fall to the ground.

"That Marcel guy is going to kill us all before we manage to record a single song." He groaned as he leaned back on his hands and stretched his long legs out.

"Don't be such a drama queen." Enzo dabbed his forehead with a small towel before throwing it at Damon, hitting him square in the face.

Caroline laughed at Damon's outraged face. Bonnie shook her head at the scene, snatching the towel away before Damon could throw it back at Enzo. This sort of behavior needed to be nipped at the root, otherwise those two would start a full-on war that would go on the entire day.

"Who knew that recording an album would be so tiring?" Caroline sighed.

"Speaking the truth there, Blondie." Damon agreed. He watched the blonde through narrowed eyes, a playful smirk foreshadowing his next quip. "It's not as easy as recording yourself while you sing in the shower with a bottle of shampoo as your mic."

Caroline gaped at him sucking in a breath. "You…how do…you…ugh!"

She launched herself at him and wrestled him to the floor. Bonnie rolled her eyes at them, too used to Caroline and Damon's bantering to pay too much attention to them. She walked up to Enzo and sat down on his guitar's speaker.

"I'm starving." She told him looking up at him. "Should we go get something to eat?"

"Good idea, we don't know how long we'll be staying here so it's better we get something to eat if we don't want to faint in the middle of a song." Enzo said only half-jokingly.

"I agree." Damon managed to say in a strangled voice. Caroline had wrapped herself around him like a koala-bear – her front against his back with her legs locked around his waist – and had him a head-lock that looked surprisingly strong for someone as skinny as Caroline.

"Then we should go before Marcel comes back and tells us we need to go back to work."

Just as Enzo said those words, Marcel walked back into the recording-room. He lifted an eyebrow at the scene presented by Damon's reddening face and by the wicked light he saw glinting in Caroline's eyes.

"Speak of the devil…Marcel, what's up?" Bonnie asked.

Marcel shrugged his shoulder and brought his attention to Bonnie. "I'm afraid you'll have to pass on that lunch-break, Bonnie. We have some problems with the drum recording in the last session so you need to play your piece again so we can go on with the recording."

Bonnie groaned and leaned her head back. "Can't it wait? I really need to eat something."

Enzo and Caroline – who had abandoned a dead-looking Damon on the floor – both turned their eyes to Marcel to see what he had to say.

Marcel smiled apologetically. "If you do this now you will all be able to leave early, otherwise we'll all have to stay late. I'll buy you lunch someday."

Bonnie sighed. "Alright, but I'm gonna hold you to that offer." She pointed her finger at him.

Enzo looked at the two of them through narrowed eyes, not liking the way Marcel smiled at Bonnie. "I'll stay here with you then, it wouldn't be fair otherwise."

"We don't need to record the guitar part, we only need the drums." Marcel said.

Enzo smiled at him. "Doesn't matter, I'm still going to stay."

"Suit yourself."

Caroline turned toward Damon – who was now rising to his feet – and opened her arms in a helpless gesture.

"Looks like it'll be just the two us."

Damon scratched the back of his head. "Yeah." He said absentmindedly, his mind occupied with an idea that had popped-up in his head out of nowhere. He almost ignored it before reminding himself of the decision he had taken in the metro. "We could call Stefan and Elena and see if they want to have lunch with us."

Caroline's eyes lighted up at the mention of Stefan's name. "Yeah, you should totally call them!"

As the two of them waved at their friends and left the recording-room, Damon nodded and pulled out his phone. He scrolled through his contact until he reached Elena's number – a number he'd had Kieran give to him for reasons he had no intention of analyzing – and pressed the call button on his touch-screen.

Elena answered at the third ring.

" _Hello?_ "

"Yeah, this is Damon. Father Kieran gave me your number for, you know... I hope I'm not disturbing you." Since when was he so awkward on the phone?

" _No, you're not disturbing at all. Was there something you needed?_ " Was he imagining things or did she sound pleased that he was calling her?

Damon motioned to Caroline to wait for him outside. She frowned at him, but when he insisted, she did as he asked.

"Care and I are going to this place at the corner of Fifth and Avenue to grab something to eat. We were wondering if you would like to come with us." He closed his eyes as he grimaced at the how eager he'd sounded.

" _That would be great! I would love…I-I mean,_ we _would love to have lunch with you. Stefan and I have yet to eat so that would be perfect. Just tell us when you want us there and we'll meet up with you_."

Why was he smiling at her awkward babbling over the phone?

"Listen, I haven't told anyone that Stefan is my brother. I would appreciate if neither of you mentioned that little detail during our lunch."

He just knew she was frowning in disappointment. Thankfully, she grudgingly agreed to not say anything and to tell Stefan the same. Damon knew he was going to have to find a way to thank her for her tact.

As he hung-up his phone and joined Caroline on their way to their lunch meeting, Damon did his best to ignore the nervous excitement that had possessed him as he spoke with Elena. He had almost succeeded in squashing down the pesky thoughts of the brunette that just wouldn't leave him alone, when he saw her and Stefan waiting just outside the place where they were going to eat.

The nervous excitement came back full-force.

Damon couldn't explain what he was feeling, but he did know that whatever was causing him would probably end up being the death of him. That was the only possible outcome he could see coming out of what he was feeling.

All of it was because of Elena Gilbert.

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	10. Alea Iacta Est

**AN: Here we go with another chapter! I want to thank all of you for reading, favoriting, following and reviewing this story; it means so much to me seeing my efforts repaid so beautifully by all of you.**

 **Buckle up and enjoy the ride because this is where things get interesting!**

* * *

Chapter 9 – Alea Iacta Est

There was something awkward in the way they sat down around a table in the small restaurant where Damon had asked them to meet. The situation was only made worse by the fact that Caroline was the only one who had no idea where that awkwardness came from.

Elena – from her place beside Stefan – kept looking at Damon with expectant eyes. When Damon stared back at her pretending not to understand what she was trying to say, she narrowed her eyes at him and subtly nodded toward Stefan.

Damon knew what she wanted from him, which, coincidentally, was the same thing behind his request to meet up for lunch. However, while deciding to get to know Stefan had been a relatively easy decision for Damon, actually asking him questions was a lot harder than imagined.

The problem was that Damon had no idea how to even start a conversation with his brother.

He knew nothing about Stefan's life, and just asking him to give him a brief summary of the main events in the last 18 years they had spent apart was simply nuts. Not to mention that Caroline would probably figure out what was going on if Damon started to show an unhealthy interest in Stefan's life.

Damon couldn't even inquire about the guy's family – a usually safe topic in normal conversations – because he really didn't want to know anything about Stefan's other family.

He was momentarily saved from having to find something to say when a waiter stopped at their table.

Damon listened as Caroline ordered for everyone. His mind was still focused on the problem at hand and it was safe to say, he was not getting any closer to a solution.

Something brushed against his shin. He looked at Elena – she was the one sitting in front of him – and furrowed his brows at her. That was hardly the place or time to be playing footsies, although he really wouldn't mind it if those were her intentions.

The way she cocked her head to the side and stared at him made Damon realize that she was just reminding him what he needed to do.

He looked to his left; both Caroline and Stefan were looking at him. The attention was starting to make him uncomfortable and he decided to blame that for the way he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"So Elena told me how the two of you will be going to Columbia in a few months. Will you be studying the same thing?"

Damon thought his to be a pretty lame way to start a conversation, but Stefan seemed to think otherwise.

"No, I'll be studying to become an architect while Elena will focus on become a writer slash journalist." He glanced at Elena.

"I've yet to decide what I really want to do after college."

Damon already knew that, but he appreciated all the same the way Elena, in her own way, helped to keep the conversation going.

From there, in great parts thanks to Caroline, the conversation started to flow. Every time Stefan shared stories about himself and Elena – Damon learned that the two had been friends since forever – Damon tried to share something about himself.

He steered clear of his childhood, and he never mentioned either one of his parents, but he did share moments of the life he'd shared with Kieran and his friends. They were small things, but Damon felt proud of the small step forward he had just taken.

A quick glance at Elena told him that she approved too. Somehow, knowing he had won her approval meant a lot.

"So were you guys rehearsing or something when you called us?" Stefan asked biting into his burger.

Caroline jumped up and down in her seat. "We were and we weren't! We were recording our first official song for our first official album!"

Elena dropped the fries she had just picked up on her plate. She looked at Caroline with her mouth gaping and then her eyes slid to Damon, as if to receive confirmation from him. Damon tried to play it cool but he knew there was no way he could contain the joy he was feeling.

Both Elena and Stefan laughed out of happiness for the two members of the band. Even though Stefan couldn't call himself a true fan, he was happy that things were going great for his brother and Caroline.

Stefan looked in his brother's eyes and subtly nodded at him, a smile always present on his lips. He wanted to say something meaningful, something that would show Damon that he cared about his brother's life, even if they didn't know each other yet.

He decided to keep silent though, that subtle nod the only gesture he allowed himself.

Damon responded in kind. He was thankful that Stefan had decided to keep things light between them, even after the way their conversation had gone the night before.

Damon's gaze snapped back to Elena when the brunette squeezed his hand in hers.

"I'm so happy for you guys! I can't wait to listen to your album; I'm sure it's going to be great!" She congratulated him with a genuine smile. "I know you don't need me to say this, but you really deserve this opportunity."

Damon knew she meant every word. It surprised him the way this girl – a stranger he had only officially met the day before – cared so much about his band. He'd met a lot of girls who pretended to be interested in his band just to have sex with him, and if he was being honest, he'd played the rockstar card more than once when picking up girls – a sure win in his experience.

Elena was a whole different story.

When she said they deserved the opportunity to record their first album, Damon didn't get the impression she was saying it because the thought she had to make an impression on him. She said it because she believed it to be true.

He thought back to the night before, when their eyes had locked as he sang one of their new songs.

Elena had responded in such a magnificent way to his music that he'd felt a current of excitement grow more and more inside of him. With every word he had sung, he'd felt that excitement grow. When Elena had started to laugh while looking at him, that current had reached an unbearable height.

He'd had to break their heated stare to focus back on his music, on his one purpose in life.

Damon smiled tightly at Elena and retreated his hand, bringing their physical contact to an end. She threw him a confused look, unsure as to why he was putting distance between them when she had simply been congratulating him on his success.

When he didn't offer an explanation, Damon noticed the hurt look in her eyes before she could hide it.

He didn't relish in causing her pain – Elena had been nothing but kind and sympathetic in their previous interaction. Damon simply didn't know how to deal with the array of emotions she was evoking in him; that meant that he needed to put some distance between them before things got worse.

Damon had never been one to form friendships with people he barely knew. He needed time to see whether becoming friends – or even acquainted – with someone was even worth it. He needed to know that he could trust someone before he could feel comfortable in their presence.

Elena – with her warm smile and easy personality – was plunging him into uncharted territory. It was not something he particularly liked.

"Do you guys want to come back to the studio with us? We could give you an exclusive sneak-peek into our debut album!"

Caroline spoke excitedly, clearly overjoyed by the Stefan and Elena's apparent interest in their band. She had thought they were simply Father's Kieran distant acquaintances but if they were fans she definitely wanted to get to know them better.

"I would really like that, thank you. What do you say, Stefan?" Elena looked at her friend.

"Sure, sounds like the perfect way to spend out afternoon. If Damon's okay with it, of course."

Damon really wanted to say that he wasn't okay with it. He'd just decided he needed to stay away from Elena, and now they wanted him to spend the entire afternoon in her presence. However, Stefan was looking at him with such unbridled hope in his eyes that he couldn't simply stomp all over it in good conscience. Stefan wasn't such a bad guy, after all.

He flashed his most convincing smile – one of his dashing ones.

"Sure. We should probably head back now. I'm sure Bonnie and Enzo are cursing the long break Caroline and I took."

Damon threw some crumpled bills on the table and stood up, quickly followed by the others.

They made their way back toward the studio. Caroline and Stefan spoke all the way back to the studio. Damon walked ahead of them, set on his plan to avoid Elena. From his solitary place at the front of their little group, he did hear her clear voice intervening in the conversation once or twice.

At some point, he felt the burning sensation of someone staring intently at the back of his head. It took a concentrated effort on his part not to turn around.

When they arrived back at the studio, they found Bonnie and Enzo slumped on the sofa in the little living room where they had met in the morning. There were paper bags and empty plastic cups on the table, evidence that they had ordered take-out.

"I see you brought guests back with you. I wonder what Marcel will say about that."

Bonnie stood up and got closer to greet Stefan and Elena.

"He can say whatever he wants, it's not like they will wreak havoc on our studio."

Enzo mirrored his friend and walked closer to the four newcomers.

As it turned out, Marcel did not look particularly happy about Stefan and Elena's presence in the studio. Initially, he told Alaric to make them leave, claiming they would represent a source of distraction for the band, and a distraction was the last thing they needed at the moment.

Marcel had made sure to stress how important their work was, how it was imperative for the band to impress Meredith with their first album if they wanted there to be a second. Alaric had been on the verge of doing what Marcel proposed – as much as he had nothing against Stefan and Elena, the band was his number one priority.

In the end, Damon had been the one to put an end to the argument. He had simply stated that both Elena and Stefan were going to stay exactly where they were. If Marcel didn't like that, he could call someone else to help the band with the recording. Surely, there were other people capable of helping?

Marcel's eyes had narrowed dangerously, even as he complied with Damon's request.

And that was how Elena and Stefan spent an entire afternoon sitting next to Marcel in the recording room, listening as The Nobodies played an array of their songs to decide which ones would go into the album.

Both Ric and Marcel had made her – and Stefan – swear that they would not speak of the album The Nobodies were recording, or the songs they were playing.

Neither of them had needed any encouragement to agree.

Elena was glad that _Room to Breathe_ had been chosen to be the first song to be officially recorded; that song had a special place in her heart, seeing as it was the first song she had ever heard the band play.

Apart from all the great songs she loved – and the ones she knew she was going to learn by heart in a matter of hours – the greatest thing about that day was the possibility to enjoy the band playing mere meters from where she was sitting. Elena had lost count of the times she had snickered when one of the band members had cracked a joke during a pause between songs.

The more she observed them, the more Elena thought they behaved like a family and not like a simple rock band. Damon never missed a chance to tease Caroline, who was always ready with a scathing reply that either made Damon laugh in victory or grit his teeth when she struck a nerve. Bonnie and Enzo covered the role of the peacekeepers, though Elena had seen the smirks Enzo directed at Damon after a particularly funny jibe at Caroline.

Elena didn't fail to notice how the sudden tension that had taken a hold of Damon during their lunch, disappeared when he was with his friends.

"They seem really close, don't they?" Stefan ask, his eyes trained on the four people on the other side of the glass window.

Elena leaned back in her chair, glad for the phone call that meant Marcel had to leave the room for a while.

"They probably spend all their time together so of course they're close. Aren't you and I close?"

Stefan laughed through his nose. "I suppose you're right. Being a member of a rock band probably means playing together for hours on end every day, until you get the song right."

For a moment, they remained in silence. On the other side of the window, Bonnie was trying to keep Caroline from jumping on Damon.

"Do you think Damon and I will ever be like that?" Stefan nodded toward the window.

"You need to stop thinking like that." Elena sighed. "Damon needs some time to get used to the way things are changing. You had months to wrap your head around Damon's existence while he only had hours."

"I just wish things could move faster."

"I know. But he has made some progress, yes? Yesterday, he ran away; today, he asked us to eat lunch together."

Neither of them pointed out that Damon had decided to keep the fact that Stefan was his brother a secret.

Stefan rubbed his eyes with his fingers, blowing out a long breath. When he looked up at her, Elena noticed the way his eyes seemed a bit brighter.

"You know what? I'm done worrying about how things will be between me and Damon." He said with a shrug of his shoulders. "From now on, I'll just focus on trying to be his friend, and I'll think about us being family only when I'll have to."

Elena regarded him with a surprised look. For the first time in months, Stefan was starting to resemble the positive-thinking, carefree man she loved so dearly. She had thought that that part of him had been stomped down by the continuous dead-ends he had hit while looking for his brother; looks like she had been wrong, after all.

She nodded at him with a proud smile. "Now you sound more like yourself, Stef!" She leaned forward and slapped him on the shoulder.

Marcel chose that moment to come back inside the recording room.

Elena and Stefan offered him a tight-lipped smile. The awkward atmosphere created by the first tense moments of their meeting made it hard to be at ease in the room. Still the two friends had soldiered through just to have the opportunity to be close to The Nobodies.

Marcel pushed a button on the console and spoke to the four band members in the adjacent room. "Alright, guys! Back to recording."

"How long do we have to keep going?" Bonnie voiced the question everyone had been thinking about. "We've been playing for hours. Can't we wrap this up?"

"Let's just finish recording this song and then we can call it a day. Deal?"

The members of The Nobodies glanced at each other before looking at Marcel through the window and nodding as one.

An hour later, they had finally finished for the day. Marcel had transferred all the data he needed on his laptop and left in search of Alaric to discuss some things. Stefan had approached Damon to congratulate him on how he had sung. The two had been conversing quietly for a couple of minutes, when Caroline had whisked Stefan away. Damon had observed the scene with a small smile.

Elena saw the opportunity to talk with Damon and quickly moved closer to him.

"Hey." She said a little apprehensive. The way Damon had distanced himself from her since lunch had been hard to miss.

Damon looked up and smiled tightly at her.

"Hey!" He seemed unsure what to say. "So how did you like spending the afternoon watching four people you don't really know play their music? I'm sure you're regretting agreeing to stay."

Elena shook her head with a smile. "Actually, I loved watching you guys play."

Damon raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah, I'm kind of a fan of yours." Elena blushed at her own admission. Well, now that the cat was out of the bag, she might as well keep talking. "I heard one of your songs a few weeks ago over the radio and I liked it. A lot. I looked you up and I admit I knew half of your songs by heart in less than 2 hours."

She expected him to look at her with wide eyes and slowly back away, creeped out by the level she had reached in her clear obsession with his band.

Instead, Damon only said, "Which song was it?"

"Pardon me?" She couldn't have heard him right.

Damon moved closer to her and crossed his arms on his chest. "The song you heard over the radio, the one you liked. Which song was it?"

"Oh, it was _Room to Breathe_."

Damon nodded to himself, almost as if confirming a suspicion he'd had for a while. "I knew I was right when I pushed to play that song and not the one the others wanted."

Elena was glad that Damon seemed to have gone back to the man she had met the night before. She didn't know what had made him clam up during lunch, but she wanted to avoid causing that reaction again. Maybe she shouldn't have taken his hand while congratulating him. She was a touchy-feely kind of person when it came to expressing her emotions, but not everyone was like that.

"So, I need to ask." Damon leaned closer and lowered his voice. "Am I meeting my actual number one fan?"

Elena sputtered, thrown off-guard by the way the low timbre of his voice made her feel uncomfortably warm. Why did she keep reacting like this to him?

"Why do you want to know?" She tried to gain some time to get herself back under control.

"Are you kidding me? Every artist wants to meet his one true fan! You always meet the fan that says he's your number one fan, but you never actually know whether this guy is the real deal or not." He leaned back onto the wall behind him. "I'm actually getting the chance to know my holy-grail of fans, I'm officially blessed."

Elena saw how his eyes travelled down her body and came back up, stopping at her lips.

The warmth she had felt before was now invading her whole body, making her feel like she was on fire. She didn't know what he was doing to her, but she sure as hell did not want him to stop doing it. She had never felt so weak and yet so powerful at the same time. It was an intoxicating feeling.

She didn't know how she found the voice to speak, but she did.

"Well if things are like that, you can consider me your number one fan. Far be it from me to deprive you of the pleasure of knowing who it is."

She was sure that not even in a million years she would be able to willingly reproduce the voice that had just come out of her mouth. She hadn't done it on purpose. She had expected her voice to come out sort of strangled since she was so nervous. What had come out, instead, was a low murmur that qualified with full marks for an HBO series.

She blushed harder than she thought possible when she noticed how Damon's eyes darkened.

"Elena, you coming?"

Stefan's voice broke whatever spell had been hanging over them, although his choice of words made Elena wish for the earth to just open up and swallow her whole. Where did he get off shouting stuff like that?

"I'll be right there!" She shouted back. She forced herself to meet Damon's eyes. "Sorry, I've got to go."

Damon pushed off from the wall he had been leaning against. "Me and the others are going to _Transition_ tonight. We won't stay there long since we'll likely have to be back here pretty early tomorrow, but it'll be a good chance to blow off some steam. You and Stefan are invited, obviously."

Elena knew the smart move would be to politely refuse his offer. It was clear there was something going on between them, but Damon was Stefan's brother; it wasn't right of her to get close to him while Stefan struggled to get a few minutes with him.

Elena totally blamed the way Damon's eyes appeared just a little bluer than normal under the light of the studio for how she answered.

"Yeah, we'll be there. Text me the time and we'll catch up with you."

It was unfair how Damon's half-smile made her stomach somersault.

She turned around to join Stefan where he was waiting for her at the entrance, but she turned back around when she remembered something she needed to say.

"Damon?" He raised an eyebrow. "I just wanted to tell you that I saw how you made an effort to talk to Stefan today. I realize it can't have been easy for you and I wanted to thank you for that. I really appreciate it, and I know Stefan does too."

She sent him a small smile as a last thank you before turning around – for good this time – and walking up to Stefan. As she left with her friend, she couldn't help but feel like someone's eyes where following her. She resisted the urge to look back and lock eyes with Damon, turning instead toward her friend and telling him of their invitation to _Transition_.

Stefan's beaming smile was as much predictable as it was a genuine delight to see. She was glad she was getting her carefree friend back one small gesture at a time.

~.~

Damon made his way through the crowd at _Transition_ , balancing drinks in both hands. When he reached the table he and the others had claimed at the beginning of their night-out, he slid in his seat with a graceful movement born out of pure luck.

"Alright, here we have a Cosmo for you Caroline; I swear if you make me order this kind of girly drink again I will stop speaking to you." He said pushing the bright-colored cocktail to his friend. "A bourbon neat for you, Enzo. A nice, cool beer for you, Bonnie." He pushed the two drinks towards his friends.

Finally, he turned to his right where Elena and Stefan were waiting somehow anxiously to see what he had ordered for them.

"A Piña Colada for you, Stefan. You said you like coconuts, right? You're gonna love this." He handed the drink to his brother reaching behind Elena's back. "And for you, Elena I picked a Malibù Cola. You said you wanted something simple so here you go."

Elena thanked him as her hands closed around the tall glass he was handing her. Their fingers brushed against each other as the drink passed from one to the other. Damon couldn't pretend he wasn't aware of the brief contact their skin made, nor could he ignore the thrill that shoot through him when he noticed Elena's eyes sliding to where their hands had brushed one against the other.

It was frustrating how he seemed hyperaware of this slip of a girl he barely knew. Just that morning he had promised himself to keep some distance between them, and then that afternoon he had flirted like crazy without even realizing it. Who was he? Some kind of hormonal teenage high-schooler?

Next to him, Elena took a first sip of her Malibù Cola and damn him if he didn't stare at those lips as they closed over the brim of the glass.

The fact was that everything in her seemed to attract his attention. He wasn't blind, the girl was hot. Her body was simply perfect on all accounts as far as he was concerned. She was the perfect height; not short to the point he felt like he was staring at a child, but short enough that he could comfortably rest his chin on top of her if she got close enough to him. Not that he thought about that kind of stuff.

Her brown doe eyes were like black-holes, swallowing him whole every time he stared at them. To hell with people who said brown eyes were dull, Elena's eyes were the best eyes he had ever seen. They made him think of hot cocoa in the middle of winter, of Enzo's morning coffee and when the light hit them right, they reminded him of the sunset light streaming through the majestic stained glass of Father Kieran's church.

And that hair. God, he couldn't lie and say the image of those straight brown locks wrapped around his fingers hadn't crossed him mind. He knew Elena's hair was exactly the right length to grab and slightly pull during sex.

At that image, Damon had to close his eyes and force himself to halt that train of thought. He shifted in his seat and subtly adjusted his suddenly too-tight jeans, hoping to God no one would look at him.

To his side, Elena smacked her lips and she savored the taste of her drink.

"So how do you like it?" Damon was surprised by how steady his voice was.

"I like it. I can definitely taste the Coke in it but there's also a sort of fresh after-taste that's just amazing!" She said, smiling at him.

"I'm glad you like it." He answered with a tight-lipped smile. She needed to stop looking at him like that.

Damon tried to keep himself busy by talking to Stefan. To his surprise, he found that his brother was actually a pretty interesting guy. Damon listened as he and Elena told some stories from their high-school years – different stories they hadn't shared during lunch – and he discovered that Stefan had a pretty funny sense of humor. He was more sarcastic than straight up funny, but Damon was a pretty sarcastic guy himself so he was fine with it.

An hour into their night out, Caroline decided it was time for the girls to have some alone time. She practically dragged Bonnie and Elena – who was already on her third Malibù Cola of the night – to the dance floor.

Damon studiously turned in his seat so that he wouldn't be tempted to look at the dance floor. He made it look like he wanted to focus on Enzo and his brother – the only two still sitting with him at the table – and it wasn't like he didn't want to spend time with them; things were just a little more complicated than that.

It was the perfect moment to relax and take a break from the increasingly R-rated thoughts that wouldn't leave him alone.

"So you guys come here often?" Stefan asked.

Damon welcomed the chance to distract himself. "It's sort of our unofficial hangout. When we had just created the band this is the first place we scored for a night session."

"And by night session, he means that they let us play a song late at night." Enzo added gaining himself a hard glare by Damon.

"So that's why a lot of people were singing with you during last night concert."

Damon nodded. "That's right. More or less, the people who usually come at _Transition_ know who we are. We're sort of their friendly neighborhood rock band."

"You've come so far from that first night."

Enzo nodded. "And we still have a long way to cover."

"But that's what makes it worth it." Damon smiled at his brother. "When you love something the way we love playing our music, getting to the top is half the fun."

The three of them kept talking among themselves. Stefan relished in the opportunity to learn something knew about Damon, and he didn't miss the chance to let his brother talk. He'd learned that if he asked Damon a direct question about his life – particularly about his past – his brother would close in on himself. The trick was to let Damon do all the talking, occasionally encouraging him without sounding too obvious.

Damon was in the middle of telling him the story of how Enzo smashed his first guitar on a stage because he thought he'd look cool, when Caroline reappeared at their table and dragged Stefan to his feet. She was obviously a little tipsy but even so, her grip was surprisingly strong.

Damon laughed as he watched her disappear back on the dance floor with a fumbling Stefan.

"Well, I need to go to the bathroom. You okay all by yourself, mate?" Enzo asked him standing up.

Damon finished drinking his third glass of bourbon and nodded to his friend. "Sure, but make it quick. You know how much I miss you when you're not here." He looked at Enzo with dramatic eyes while trying not to laugh.

Enzo blew him a kiss and left him alone at the table.

Damon laughed as he relaxed against the back of his chair. This night out with the band was exactly what he had needed in the midst of all the changes happening around him. It felt like only yesterday he and the others had decided to form a band, and now they were actually recording an album. He felt a shock of excitement run through his body at the mere thought of their first official album.

He looked at the dance floor in search of Caroline and Bonnie; he wanted to make sure they were having fun and shacking off the stress of playing one song over and over again all afternoon.

His eyes did not find his two friends in the midst of the throng of people dancing their hearts out on the dance floor. What they found, instead, was Elena.

Damon felt the ease he had just found practically flee from his body, waving goodbye to him as it disappeared to never return. What replaced that ease was a dark, swirling pool of lust coiling in his abdomen.

Elena was a vision. She moved around in the knee-length, dark red dress she had chosen for the night and if before – when Damon had been sitting next to her – he had managed not to stare at the way that piece of cloth hugged her forms, now he could do nothing but drink her in. He felt his pants get uncomfortably tight when his eyes took in the high-heeled black shoes that made her legs look like they went on for miles.

Damon groaned as he imagined those heels dig into his back as he fucked Elena into the mattress.

A man approached Elena on the dance floor and Damon clenched his fist as he watched how that waste of space tried to grind against the brunette. Elena barely glanced at him, sidestepping him with grace.

Damon didn't see how the man reacted because before he could even realize it, he was already on his feet and walking toward Elena.

She didn't see him coming – she was turned away from him – and Damon took full advantage of this. He slipped behind her and settled his hands on her hips, pulling her back into him as he matched her rhythm without missing a beat.

He felt her tense in his arms – no doubt she thought the man she had ignored before had come back – and he observed as she turned her head to look over her shoulder. Her eyes widened when she realized who was dancing with her.

Damon expected her to step out of his embrace and ask him what he thought he was doing. Instead, she relaxed against him and leaned her head against his shoulder. Her back was plastered against his front and her hands were covering his own where they were clenching her hips.

Neither of them said anything. They world around them disappeared and only they remained, dancing on that dance-floor as if they were one.

When he thought back to that moment, Damon blamed what he said half to the alcohol they had both ingested that night, and half to the maelstrom of emotions cursing through him. He knew exactly what Elena would answer because he could see in her eyes how much she wanted him, could feel in the way she grinded back against the bulge in his pants how much she was craving him the way he craved her.

He knew what would happen and he still chose to speak. Because he was a bit drunk, and frustrated with everything that was happening around him and with this slip of a girl that evoked in him things he didn't even know how to name. Because maybe this would solve everything. He would give in to the lust they both felt and get her out of his system. Things would go back the way they were before; before Stefan and before her.

He told himself that was why he decided to utter those words.

"Do you want to get out of here?"

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	11. Crossing The Rubicon

**AN: Here we are with another chapter! This one takes off right where the previous one stopped; I hope you will enjoy it! Thank you so much to all those who took the time to leave a review. This author is humbled by the kindness of your words ;)**

 **A huge thank you to delena21051 for her wonderful patience when betareading this story!**

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Chapter 10 - Crossing The Rubicon

The apartment's door slammed shut when Damon pushed Elena's body against it. As soon as Elena's back hit the door, Damon pressed his body against hers and captured her lips in a searing kiss. He'd been dying to do that all night. He released a pleased groan when she immediately responded to him, her soft lips molding perfectly to his. He bit her lower lip and the whimper she released traveled straight to his cock.

Elena didn't stand idly by. Soon her hands found their way into his hair and he'd never been one to enjoy women playing with it, but when she pulled at it he couldn't help the way his hips automatically bucked against hers.

Damon traced her lower lip with his tongue, silently asking her to let him in. She didn't make him wait but to his surprise, she was the one who deepened the kiss. She twirled her tongue around his and used the hands in his hair to tilt his head at a better angle.

He didn't fight her for control, enjoying her unapologetic boldness. He was used to being the one in control during sex, since the majority of the women he'd slept with seemed to prefer that way. Had it been any other woman, Damon would have probably taken back control as soon as the occasion arose. With Elena, however, he settled for enjoying the ride and seeing where she would take him.

Damon tightened his grip on Elena's hips and brought her body flush to his. He slid his palms down the curve of her hips, finally making contact with Elena's skin. He massaged her thighs and gently nudged them apart to slip his thigh in between them. When he pressed his leg slightly upward, Elena tilted her head back and moaned throatily.

Damon didn't lose any time in sliding his lips along her jawline, descending toward her neck. He latched his lips on the skin over her pulse point and exhaled heavily against her neck when he felt her heart beating wildly.

"I've been dying to do this since this afternoon." He breathed against her neck.

He slid his hand beneath the edge of her dress and slowly moved it upward. Elena's hands moved to his shoulders where they fisted his shirt. He cupped her sex through her panties, taking notice of how wet she already was.

"Look at me." Damon said nipping at her chin.

Elena's eyes were dark pools dripping with need when they met his stare.

"Last chance to back out." He was sure he'd correctly read the signs she'd been throwing his way all night, but if this was going too far for her he didn't want to be the one pushing past her limits.

Without taking her eyes off him, Elena leaned forward and took his lower lip between her teeth. Her hands slid down his chest and started opening the buttons of his shirt.

Damon didn't think he'd ever been this turned on by anyone before. He felt a wave of heat spread throughout his body when Elena playfully bit down on his lip, immediately soothing the spot with a quick swipe of her tongue. Her eyes told him everything he needed to know.

"I'm gonna take that as a 'please don't stop'."

Elena's only response was to open the last button of his shirt and run her hands over the planes of his chest. Damon had other plans, though. He captured her wrists and pressed them against the door above her head, keeping them there with his hand. He nudged her thighs further apart with the leg he still had between them, making space to allow the hand still cupping her sex to move freely.

Elena released a pleased sigh when he began rubbing her through the cloth of her damp panties. He kept his eyes trained on her face not wanting to miss a single expression passing over her face. When Elena started to shift her hips impatiently, Damon hooked a finger over the edge of her panties and moved them to the side.

"Fuck!" Elena hissed through her teeth as Damon ran a finger over her core.

He looked her deep in the eyes as he pushed a finger inside of her. Elena screwed her eyes shut and bit on her lower lip to stifle the moan that wanted to come out of her mouth. Damon didn't like that at all.

"Don't do that." He ordered her. "Let me hear you."

Elena released her lip and looked at him through hooded eyes. To drive his point across, Damon twisted his hand to press his thumb over her clit starting a rubbing motion he knew would have her begging for more. Her inner walls tightened around the lone digit he kept pushing in and out of her as a loud moan tore out of her throat.

"That's it." He breathed in an awed whisper.

Elena started struggling against the hand he was using to keep her wrists locked over her head. Damon released his grip on her and purred appreciatively as her Elena's hands flew to his hair, her nails lightly scratching against his scalp. She pulled his head closer, stopping a breath away from her parted lips. She didn't kiss him, her panting breaths ghosting over his skin.

With his now free hand, Damon pulled down the neckline of her red dress together with her bra cup, freeing her right breast. In one fluid motion, he leaned down and closed his lips over a dusky nipple.

"Damon!" She whimpered in his ear as the hands in his hair tensed, keeping him where he was.

Nothing had ever sounded more divine than his name coming from her lips. Damon wanted to hear it again. He wanted to hear it a thousand times more in all its possible variations as she writhed in ecstasy underneath him.

There was only one way for him to get her to say his name again, preferably screaming it this time.

Without pulling his lips away from her breast, he pushed another finger inside of her and sped up the motion of his thumb over her clit. She stiffened for a moment – caught off guard by the sudden change of pace – before letting her head fall back against the door as she allowed Damon to push her higher and higher.

Elena's hips moved restlessly against the fingers pumping in and out of her core, chasing the orgasm she knew to be barely out of her reach.

Damon knew she was close. Her inner walls fluttered rhythmically around his fingers, almost trying to keep them from pulling out. He slid the hand he had previously been using to keep Elena's dress off her breast to her thigh, pushing her firmly against the door behind her. He felt the trembling of her muscles under his palm and knew she would reach her climax with just a little push.

He looked up at her. She still had her eyes closed and her head tilted back. Unacceptable. Damon took her nipple between his teeth and gently bit down. Elena's reaction was immediate. Her head snapped forward and she looked at him with surprised eyes.

Damon pulled slightly away from her breast. "I want to see you as you scream my name. I want you to look at me as I make you come."

Elena had barely the time to slip her hands under his shirt to grab the back of his shoulders before it happened.

Damon leaned forward and wrapped his lips back around her breast while curling his fingers inside of her to stroke that wonderful spot on her front wall. Elena felt her inner muscles clamp down hard around Damon's fingers as she was pushed higher than she had ever been and remained there, balancing on the brink of her orgasm.

She dug her nails into his shoulders and clenched her teeth; there was a part of her that couldn't help but respond to his earlier domineering attitude and felt the need to not give him the satisfaction of doing what he wanted.

Damon narrowed his eyes at her and smiled around the mouthful of her breast. Those eyes and that smile alone would have been enough to make her yield, but Damon was not one to back down from a challenge.

He sucked hard on her breast, hollowing his cheeks and keeping eye contact with her. The two fingers inside of her sped up as his thumb moved in rapid, small circles over her clit giving her that final push she needed to reach her orgasm.

Before she even realized it, Elena felt the muscles in her abdomen clench to the point of discomfort. Her thighs spasmed and she clenched them, half in an attempt to remain standing and half to keep Damon from pulling his hand away.

For a moment, she stood still. It was like time had stopped and all Elena could do was stare into Damon's eyes. Despite the fact that they barely knew each other and that what they were doing was far from romantic, the atmosphere around them was somewhat intimate.

The next moment, Damon twisted his fingers inside of her and sent Elena into what was probably the best orgasm she'd ever had in her short life.

Even though Damon had told her to look at him as she came, she couldn't help but close her eyes and lean forward, burying her face into the crook of his neck.

"Damon!" She shouted against his collarbone.

The tension in her muscles vanished as warmth spread all over her body. She felt her inner muscles clench hard around Damon's fingers as pleasure invaded her body. She was grateful for Damon's body pinning hers against the door, because her legs felt like they had been turned into jelly and she was sure she would fall in a heap of pleasured limbs if he decided to take a step back.

The muscles in her core clenched and unclenched rhythmically, sending wave after wave of mind-numbing pleasure coursing through her entire body. Her hips kept rocking against the fingers still moving inside of her, prolonging her release in such a delicious way she felt she could cry.

Through the pounding in her ears, Elena felt him hissing in what was decidedly not pleasure. She wondered what had him making that sound – no way was she wasting the bit of strength she had left in her body to lift her head from the comfy place she had found. The mystery was solved when she felt Damon shrug his shoulders; apparently, her nails had dug a little deeper than she'd thought.

"Ops." She murmured to herself, willing her fingers to relax. She absentmindedly massaged his shoulders in an effort to sooth the scratches she had involuntarily inflicted.

"'M sorry." She slurred hoping he would understand her.

Magnificent.

That was the only thought Damon had been able to formulate as he watched Elena fall apart in his arms. He had kept thrusting in and out of her core to help her ride out her orgasm. When her muscles had started to spasm – her thighs snapping closed trapping his hand between them – he had snaked his free arm around her waist and pushed her a little harder against the wall, helping her stay on her feet.

He'd seen her clenching her teeth to keep in the scream that wanted to come out of her mouth. Just like the day before when he'd silently challenged her on that bench, she had not backed down the moment she'd felt him trying to best her. That aspect of her personality was certainly something he found incredibly interesting.

He'd gotten his wish in the end, however. The moment she had leaned forward to press her face against the crook of his neck, he'd been tempted to cup her cheek and have her look at him only to hear her scream his name against his neck.

The deep satisfaction that had taken a hold of him as he'd felt his name screamed against his skin was not something he could put into words.

It was safe to say that the alcohol they had both partaken in was more than gone after a spectacle like that.

Now that her muscles were relaxing and she was melting against him, he took the chance to pull back his hand, discretely wiping his fingers against the denim of his jeans.

He kept an arm around her waist, while he moved his now free hand up and down her back following the curve of her spine. He massaged the muscles of her thigh on every downward stroke, appreciating the way her soft skin felt under his palm.

He felt a little at a loss, as strange as that sounded even to him. Now that he'd gotten the first taste of what Elena had to offer, he was even more eager to get to the next part of their night. The uncomfortable throbbing in his pants served as a reminder impossible to ignore.

He couldn't get his body to move, though.

The way Elena's fingers kneaded the muscles of his shoulders was pleasant and yet unsettling. The position they were in felt uncomfortably intimate considering their situation, and it seemed like her fingers were stroking bare nerves instead of skin. It was exhilarating and nerve-wracking at the same time.

He was in an unfamiliar territory and he didn't know how to get to much safer paths without behaving like a complete tool.

He felt Elena move against him and when he looked down, he was met with those deep dark orbs that seemed to stare deep into his soul.

God, she looked so innocent.

The hand that slid down his back to cup his ass and pull him closer as hips rolled forward to grind against the bulge in his pants, cut down his thought at the root. There was nothing innocent in the way she was rubbing against him. She shivered when her core rubbed against him, sensitive from the orgasm she'd just had.

And the way she looked at him spelled 'I want to swallow you whole' in capital letters.

Damon felt her free hand cup the back of his neck and he gladly leaned into her when she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. He parted his lips without hesitation. Elena lazily explored his mouth, sighing when Damon gripped her waist and forced her to grind harder against him.

She was the one to break the kiss, sliding her lips down the line of his jaw. He felt himself harden beyond belief when she mouthed at his Adam's apple.

"Ah." He groaned.

He felt her lips curve into a smile against his skin.

"Do you think we could move this to your bedroom or are we going to spend the rest of the night here?" She whispered in a low voice.

Damon almost gave into the temptation of taking Elena against the wall right there, right at that moment. In the end, though, the thought of what he could do to her in his bed won him over. Just the image of her lying on his bed on her back, hair spread around her head like an inky halo as he took everything she had to give, made his cock twitch in his pants.

Elena squealed in surprise when he palmed her ass and picked her up. She locked her legs around his waist and looked him in the eye as he made a beeline for his bedroom. Once in his room, Damon pushed the door closed with his foot and switched on the light before marching straight to his bed. No way was he doing this in the dark, he wanted to savor every moment of what was about to come.

Elena's dress was bunched up around her waist, making it easier for him to drag it over her head as he let her slide down his body to sit at the foot of the bed. He tossed her dress on a chair in the corner of the room. He looked down to admire the stretches of skin finally revealed to his eyes.

Elena was wearing a simple strapless black bra with matching panties. It was nothing fancy, no laces or anything, just a simple cotton bra and panties combo, yet it looked incredibly enticing on her. The contrast between the black of her underwear and her tanned skin was simply amazing. He wanted his lips to cover every inch of her skin.

He cupped her face and tilted her head back, leaning down to kiss her deeply.

"You look so damn sexy." He breathed against her lips.

Elena kissed him back with enthusiasm. Her hands grabbed the sides of his open shirt and tugged. Damon got the message and leaned back to finish taking off his shirt. He shrugged it off and threw it to the side, not bothering to look where it landed.

As he expected, the tattoo covering his left arm from wrist to shoulder caught Elena's attention. She took his hand to pull his arm closer to her, and tentatively traced the intricate design that completely hid his skin under black ink. The geometric pattern of the tattoo created a delicate design of intertwining circles and other figures.

"It's beautiful." Elena said, awed by the work of art etched onto his skin.

Damon always felt a surge of pride in his chest whenever someone complimented him on his tattoos, and this time was no different. However, as much as he enjoyed the attention lavished onto his skin, much more important things needed to be taken care of.

He moved his hips in a shallow thrust, smirking when Elena's eyes slid onto the prominent bulge protruding from the front of his pants. She looked up at him and he gently cupped her cheek, brushing his thumb over her bottom lip in a silent question.

He did not intend to force her into doing something she didn't want to do, but he'd seen a certain fire inside of her and knew she wouldn't let him push her past limits she wasn't comfortable overstepping. The decision was hers. He wouldn't pressure her into anything, but he wouldn't stop her should she choose to respond to his question.

Elena, as usual, took him up on his challenge.

She parted her lips and nipped at the pad of his thumb. At the same time, she hooked her fingers on his belt loops and pulled him closer, parting her legs to get him to stand between them. The next moment, her hands worked on unbuckling his belt.

He brought his hands to his belt wanting to help speed up the process, but Elena quickly batted his hands away. She pulled off his belt and let it fall to the floor by her side, moving it out of the way with a quick flick of her foot.

Next, her fingers deftly unfastened the button of his jeans and pulled down his zipper. The sound of the little metallic teeth parting as her hand lowered resounded in the room.

Damon kept his hands to the side, letting her set the rhythm she was comfortable with. He subtly swiveled his hips when Elena pushed his jeans down his thighs, letting them rest loosely at knee height.

He shuddered when she lightly trailed her fingers over his still boxer-clad erection. She smiled smugly at him teasingly squeezing him through the cloth.

"Elena." He breathed.

She decided to take pity on him. She slipped a hand inside his boxer, dainty fingers curling around him, freeing him while pulling down his underwear with the other hand. Damon heaved a sigh of relief at finally being out of the confines of his boxers.

He barely managed to contain the groan that wanted to escape his lips when Elena started to pump him slowly with one hand, the other resting lightly against his thigh. Her grip around him was just perfect, tight enough to make the pleasure she was giving him that much more pleasing.

He clenched his hands behind his back when she blew a hot stream of air over the head of his cock. Damon was sure his nails dug in the palm of his hands hard enough to draw blood as Elena's lips parted and she took him in her mouth. She swirled her tongue around his head before taking more of him in her mouth, hollowing her cheeks when easing off him.

She gave him a couple of quick pumps, using her saliva to lubricate him, before wrapping her lips back around his cock. She bobbed her head up and down, taking more of him on each down-stroke. She kept one hand wrapped around his base to stroke what she couldn't fit in her mouth, twisting her wrist to accompany the motion of her head.

Damon closed his eyes and tipped his head back, letting the pleasure Elena was giving him wash over him. The hand Elena had kept on his thigh slowly moved upwards, tracing the line leading to his hip and moving still upward. He sighed as he felt her fingers follow the faint lines of his muscles.

His sigh turned into a low groan when she lightly scratched the skin of his abdomen. He'd always been ticklish there but this time all he felt as her nails left red trails after them, was a surge of arousal.

Elena slowly eased off him, keeping only his head inside her mouth. She sucked hard on it making him open his eyes and snap his head forward to look down at her. The sight of her lips wrapped around him, and her brown doe eyes looking straight at him was nearly enough to undo him.

Once again, she surprised him when she reached behind him and took one of his hands in hers, bringing it to her head. He didn't need to be told twice. His fingers delved into her hair, scooping up any stray strand and holding it up and out of the way.

Elena pressed the tip of her tongue right where the head of his cock connected to his shaft. He clenched his jaw and tightened his grip on her hair, involuntarily pulling at it. Elena didn't seem to mind, humming around him and she swallowed more of him.

The only sound in the room was Damon's heavy panting and the wet sounds produced by Elena as she bobbed her head up and down his length. With the hand in her hair, Damon accompanied her movement, gently applying pressure when he thought she could take more of him in her mouth. She almost deep-throated him a couple of times.

Feeling himself getting dangerously close to his orgasm, Damon decided it was time to stop Elena before she made him come like an inexperienced teenager on his first time. He gently pulled at her hair, hinting that he wanted her to back away. Elena looked up at him and he saw a mischievous glint in her eyes.

She cupped his balls with her free hand, fondling them in a way that was simply criminal in his opinion.

"You need to stop." He panted.

The muscles of his thighs trembled under the strain. If Elena didn't stop what she was doing, she was going to get much more than she had bargained for.

When Damon felt the pad of a finger press up on that fabulous spot right between his balls and his anus, he cursed out loud and forcefully pulled Elena off him.

He stared at her, mouth hanging open as he panted hard in an effort to keep himself together. She looked at him with a proud smile twisting her swollen lips – she'd know exactly what she had been doing to him. He couldn't help the shiver that traveled up his spine at the sight of Elena licking her lips to keep the excess of saliva from dripping down her chin.

"Take off those things." He basically growled indicating the bra and panties she was still wearing. "Keep the heels on." He added as an afterthought while taking off his own shoes and pushing his pants the rest of the way down.

Elena raised an eyebrow, unhooking her bra in record time and scrambling to take off her panties. She moved up the bed and positioned herself with her head resting comfortably on the pillows she found there. She let her legs fall open, waiting for him to join her.

Damon moved to his nightstand, running a hand through his hair in an attempt to cool off. It wouldn't do to finish off as soon as he entered her. He retrieved a condom from his drawer and opened it, joining Elena on the bed.

He kneeled between her legs and rolled the condom on. Instead of entering her immediately, he ran his fingers between her soaked folds. Her hips jerked up at the sudden contact and he smiled at her.

"Now who's the eager one?"

"Stop it with the teasing." She almost growled at him.

He pushed two fingers inside of her – pleased by the moan that tickled his ears – and pumped them a couple of times before easing them out. He edged closer to her and positioned himself at her entrance.

He looked into her eyes and sheathed himself inside her in one long, slow thrust. They both moaned out loud, as they finally became one. Damon squeezed his eyes shut at the warmth that surrounded him. She felt amazing and he mentally sighed in relief at the feeling of her inner muscles fluttering around him, signaling that she was already close.

He gripped her hips to keep himself inside her and sink a little deeper, before starting a rhythm of slow but deep thrusts. Elena's hands covered his on her hips as she moved against him. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he felt her black heels dig into the small of his back. The sensation had him thrusting harder inside of her.

Apparently, Elena had been closer to her orgasm than he'd thought. She clenched hard around him – back arching in a way that belonged to wet dreams – as a scream tore out of her throat. Her hands gripped his and pulled and he let himself fall over her as he kept thrusting inside of her to help ride out her orgasm.

He pressed his forehead against her sternum and tried to think about that time Kieran had decided it was time to give him The Talk – a sure turn off that never failed in keeping him from reaching his climax.

Elena's scream had died off in soft whimpers tumbling down her lips every time one of them shifted even slightly in their position.

As she slowly came back to earth, she moved her hands up and down his arms, caressing his skin. At a certain point, her hand stopped on a patch of skin on his left arm. Her fingers pressed down lightly, moving in a slow circle as if she were feeling for something.

Damon pulled out of her and rolled her onto her stomach before she could voice the question he knew would be soon popping up in her mind.

He pulled her on all fours. Elena complied with him wanting him to get his own pleasure, although she seemed about ready to collapse back on the bed.

"Put your hands on the headboard." He told her.

He waited for her to do as he said before plunging back inside of her. He immediately set a quick rhythm that would get him to his end in no time. He'd been holding on all night and he desperately needed to reach that beautiful moment when he could finally lose himself inside of her and just stop existing for a few minutes.

Elena held on to the headboard for dear life as he thrust hard into her. She pushed back against him weakly, trying him to help him reach his orgasm. Damon felt himself on the brink of what was probably going to be one of the best orgasms he'd ever had.

He clasped one hand on Elena's shoulders as the other gripped her hip as if it were his own personal anchor keeping him tied to the ground.

The loud panting coming from his mouth mixed with Elena's ever-higher moans and the thud of the headboard hitting the wall, was a soundtrack he wouldn't be able to get out of his head for quite a while.

Incapable of going on for much longer, Elena arched her back and squeezed her muscles around him while bringing her fingers to her clit to get herself off one last time.

Damon's head snapped back as he thrust one last time inside of her and finally reached his release. He shouted out Elena's name, spilling himself in the condom. His orgasm traveled through his body in waves that washed away the stress and worry or the last few days, leaving him feeling newly born. It felt like it went on for minutes on end instead of the handful of seconds that it really lasted.

He kept moving lazily against Elena, enjoying the high he was currently experiencing thanks to her. He leaned forward to plant a wet, open-mouthed kiss between her shoulder blades. He nuzzled his face against her soft skin, humming low in his throat like a purring cat.

Damon felt Elena tremble beneath him and realized she was probably exhausted. He massaged her shoulder and hip – knowing his grip had been quite strong – before pulling out. Elena immediately collapsed on top of the bed, eyes closed and slowly calming down her breathing.

Damon gathered her hair – paying attention to the strands of it sticking to her sweat-dampened forehead – and moved it off her face, letting her breathe more easily.

He stood up and left her sprawled on the bed as he went into the en-suite bathroom to clean himself up before getting into bed. He threw the used condom in the trashcan and hastily cleaned himself up. As he washed his teeth, a new dilemma slowly made itself known in his mind.

His initial plan had been to sleep with Elena to get her out of his system, but if tonight was anything to go by, the two of them had amazing chemistry between the sheets; a chemistry his body would surely be craving the next day for an unforeseeable amount of time. The obvious solution would be to form some kind of arrangement with Elena, if she felt the same way and – whether she was willing to admit it or not – he knew she did.

Damon shook his head to push away those thoughts. He could think about these things the next day.

He grabbed a washcloth and held it under the cold stream of water, thoroughly wetting it. Once done, he wringed out the excess of water and settled the washcloth over his shoulder. Back in his bedroom, he shook his head, amused at how Elena had practically taken possession of the majority of his bed.

Damon moved to the foot of the bed and gently took off Elena's shoes setting them down by the door. He massaged her ankles in an attempt to stave off what would be a major pain for her the next day, after the hours she had spent in those things. She weakly batted him off when he pressed his thumbs on the underside of her feet. Someone was definitely ticklish.

Next, Damon used the washcloth to clean her up as best as he could without disturbing her sleep. She sighed deeply when he ran the wet cloth over her shoulders and the nape of her neck, cooling her off.

Once he was done, Damon threw the washcloth in the direction of the bathroom not caring where it landed. With careful movements, he moved Elena to the other side of the bed arranging her in a more comfortable position.

He sat down on his side of the bed and grabbed the sheets that had ended up all bunched up at the foot of the bed, and threw them over both of them.

Damon let himself sink into the mattress and fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

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	12. For Every Action

**AN: So here we are with another chapter! You will finally get to see how everyone reacts to what happened between Damon and Elena! Thank you so much to everyone who read and review and to all those that left a guest review. I love all you guys so much, you're the reason I keep writing fics.**

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Chapter 11 - For Every Action

Elena only needed a couple of seconds to realize that the room she was waking up in was not the hotel room she had been sharing with Stefan. She could feel the light of the sun hitting her in the face – something that should have been impossible as, usually, the morning sun only ever got to about her waist, seeing as the window in the room faced her feet.

She could not hear Stefan's soft snoring, a sound that had welcomed her into the new day every morning for the past few weeks of their journey. She had found it a bit irritating in the beginning, but had quickly grown used to it. It was either learning how to sleep in the company of a snoring man, or turning into an owl to spend her nights wide awake.

What was probably the biggest difference, however, was the smell of the room.

Hotel rooms tended to all smell the same; aseptic and slightly stale – unless you spent your night in five stars hotel rooms that looked more like apartments than mere rooms. For the past few weeks, Elena had woken up every day sure that she could still smell the scent of the people who had rented the room before them. Stefan had laughed when she had told them that, but she was just sure of it.

This room, however, smelled clean and sort of masculine. She wasn't the protagonist of some clichéd young adult novel, so she couldn't identify every single scent in the room; she just knew it smelled like a man's room.

She rolled on her side, burying her face in what was probably the softest pillow she had ever laid upon. She sighed contentedly. The bed was simply magnificent, so soft and warm. She could happily spend the rest of her life in that bed.

The mattress moved under her and that was when Elena realized she was not alone in bed. With it came the realization that the sheets felt somewhat weird on her skin. Wait, skin? Without opening her eyes, Elena slowly ran her hand over her body. Yep, she was stark naked.

Her eyes snapped open.

For a moment, the sight that greeted her left her confused. Sprawled on his back by her side was a sleeping Damon. It made no sense; surely there was a logical explanation for this. Maybe the attraction she felt toward Damon had finally made her snap and now she was hallucinating things. That had to be it.

She screwed her eyes shut for a couple of seconds and then opened them again. Nope, he was still there.

Elena sat up in bed, a hand holding the sheets to her chest. She took her eyes off Damon's body – seeing him like that was stirring things inside of her she needed to ignore – and stared straight ahead at the wall. She sat still as a statue as memories of the night before slowly came back to her.

She remembered dancing without a care in the world. After the eventful weeks she'd had, the simple pleasure of just dancing alone in the middle of a crowd of strangers had been exactly what she had needed. The guy who had tried to approach her had slightly disturbed the happy bubble she had created around herself, but she had managed to deal with him fairly quickly.

That was when Damon had made his appearance into her night.

As soon as his arms had encircled her waist to pull her flush against him, she should have said something. In fact, she had been about to kindly tell him to let her go, but then she had looked up into his eyes. The need she had seen burning hot in those blue irises had ignited something inside of her that had made her feel incredibly alive.

His arms around her had turned into the most perfect feeling of safety mixed with underlying danger. She had known she would have been safe with him, yet he held the power to destroy her if she let her guard down.

In the end, it was the way he'd ground against her ass that had made her crumble. If seeing his need had made her burn, actually _feeling_ it against her own body had done her in. She had felt exhilarated, powerful, and so incredibly sexy in that moment. Knowing she was the one causing Damon to react like that had made her feel wanted like never before.

That was when Elena had known without any doubt that she needed to have him.

Whatever objection she might have had before vanished at that first contact. It hadn't mattered that he was Stefan's brother, that she had officially met him just the day before. Had it been so wrong of her to give in to the way he called to her? She had felt as if she'd known him for weeks instead of hours and maybe she did know him. The songs everyone merely listened to, spoke to her of Damon.

No, there had been nothing wrong in them. And when Damon had asked her if she had wanted to get out of there, she hadn't even needed to think about it. Her answer had been an immediate 'yes'.

From that point on, their night had taken a turn she could have never imagined just the day before.

Elena blushed remembering some of the things they had done the night before. Damon had been surprisingly gentle with her, giving her the chance to stop if she so wanted. But he hadn't treated her as if she were made of glass, nor had he kept things tame for fear of pushing her away. He'd been just perfect and it kind of scared her how he had seemed to know exactly how far she was willing to go.

Elena wasn't a virgin – that ship had sailed in the back of Matt Donovan's car when she had been 16, her only true regret in that relationship – but she had never felt the way she had the night before.

Elena had been lucky so far in her sexual experiences; for the most part, the times she'd had sex had been pretty good in her opinion. True, she had never had the toe-curling experience described in those trashy romances written for old, frustrated housewives, but she had chalked it up to it being just that; trashy novels' material. That and she believed that no matter how much you loved someone, you needed time to get the hang of things during sex, to learn what your partner liked.

Then last night happened.

Damon had stripped her down to nothing only to build her back up again. He had known exactly what to do to give her the kind of pleasure people only dreamed of feeling. Sure he was older than her and Elena wasn't naïve – there was no way a guy so hot went more than a couple of days without getting laid. But still, that couldn't have been all there was to it.

There had been chemistry between them, exactly the kind of chemistry Elena had always believed partners needed time to find. Last night, hers and Damon's bodies had moved together in such a flawless dance one would think they had been doing it their whole life.

Elena felt her stomach fill with butterflies the more she thought about the night before.

She needed to stop thinking about the way Damon had felt so beautifully perfect inside of her, as if he had been made to complete her. All that, didn't matter. What had happened the night before could never happen again. Ever.

The sound of rustling sheets made her turn around.

Damon rolled onto his stomach and kept on sleeping peacefully, unaware of her inner turmoil. Elena watched him move and heaved a sigh of relief when it became clear that she still had some time before she had to face him.

The tattoo on his back caught her attention. Elena turned on the bed, tucking her legs underneath her, to face the man sleeping next to her. Now that he was lying on his stomach with the sheets pooling at the small of his back, she had a clear, unobstructed view of his body. And what a sight it was.

He had broad shoulders that tapered into a slim waist. He clearly worked out if the defined lines on his back were anything to go by. He was all lean muscles and not an ounce of fat. From the way he had picked her up effortlessly the night before – that detail was seared into her mind – Elena judged that either he spent a lot of time doing push-ups or he was a regular at a gym.

Speaking of arms…

Elena looked at his left arm. The tattoo that covered it completely was amazing. The night before she had caught a glimpse of it, but it had been just a moment seeing as they had been busy doing something else. Now she could actually look at it and she absolutely loved the way clean, straight lines intermixed with the curvy shapes of circles in a geometric pattern that she could stare at for hours.

Her eyes slid to the design on his back.

There, in all its proud glory, was a crow in mid-flight over an intricate Celtic circle over a three-point star. At least Elena thought it was a Celtic circle. The tattoo covered Damon's back from his shoulders to the small of his back. The feathers of the crow's splayed wings slightly curved over the top of his shoulders, while one of the three points of the star stopped at the nape of his neck. The other two points curved over his hips, while the feathered tail of the crow opened up on the small of his back.

It was truly a gorgeous sight. Elena had always had a weak spot for tattoos, though she had never actually found the courage to get one herself.

Without even realizing it, she started to follow the sharp lines of the crow's feathers on Damon's back. As her fingers moved over the tattoo, her mind couldn't help but go back to what had happened the night before.

What was she going to do?

She could admit to herself that she had no regrets over what had happened between them. Admittedly, the timing could have been better, but she couldn't regret the way Damon had made her feel. What really made her feel ashamed was how easily she had given in to the obvious attraction between them.

Yes, the night before she had drunk more than she should have, but she hadn't been so drunk as to not realize what was going on. Damon hadn't taken advantage of her, he had actually asked her more than once if she wanted to stop. It had been her choice. Even worse, the thought of Stefan's feelings on the matter never even crossed her mind.

The truth was that Elena had felt connected to Damon the second she had heard his voice over the radio. Meeting him in person had simply made her more aware of that.

Elena frowned as her fingers came across a weird-feeling patch of skin on Damon's back. She looked down at the spot in question and pressed down a bit harder with her fingers. She couldn't quite get a good look at the spot – the tattoo covered it completely – but to her fingers, it felt like Damon's skin was slightly raised and sort of bumpy.

Maybe it was a scar or something.

Before she could confirm her suspicions, Damon twitched beneath her finger and rolled onto his back. He stretched under the covers, popping his joints while releasing a deep sigh. Once done, he flopped back onto the bed, hands beneath his head, and watched her with a pleased smirk. Elena thought he looked like the cat that ate the canary.

"Sorry if I woke you up." She felt the need to say.

Damon shrugged his shoulders, eyes still trained on her. "I've been awake for a while. You're thinking so hard that it would have been impossible for me to go on sleeping."

Elena's frown deepened at his words.

"Although, I admit I was hoping for a more…exciting awakening." Damon's eyebrows moved up and down.

Elena wasn't sure how to respond to his innuendo. If she'd hoped for a little solidarity from Damon concerning the tight situation they were in, she was sorely mistaken. It seemed she was the only one worried about the consequences of their actions. She really couldn't tell if he was serious or not.

She shook her head and brushed her hair out of her face. "Listen Damon, about last night…"

"I rocked your world, didn't I?"

Was he being serious?

Elena gritted her teeth to keep herself from snapping at him. She needed to stay calm. If he wanted to play the part of the indifferent Casanova so be it; but she would not make it easy for him.

"I really think we should talk about what happened. I think we both agree that it can't happen again…"

"Why?"

Damon's question caught her off guard.

"Why what?" She asked him to clarify.

"Why can't we have sex again? Did you not enjoy it?" Damon sounded slightly affronted at the mere insinuation.

Elena shook her head. "No, that's not it." She waved her hand as if pushing away that particular topic. "Damon…you're Stefan's brother." She pointed out the obvious.

"And?" He seemed genuinely confused.

"And that's wrong!" She snapped at him, now starting to get angry with him for his total indifference. "I won't be coming in between you guys, especially since you're both trying to reconnect after all these years. I won't be that kind of woman, okay?"

Damon straightened up in a sitting position and stared at her deep in the eye. The indifference he had been sporting not even a minute ago was all but gone. Elena waited for him to tell her that he understood her situation and that she was right in saying that there would be no sleeping together in their future.

"Bullshit."

What?

"What did you say?" She asked out loud.

"I said 'bullshit'." Damon pushed the sheets away and stood up, naked as the day he'd been born. Elena blushed at the sight and turned away, suddenly feeling incredibly embarrassed. "It's true that I want to get to know Stefan and reconnect with him, but that doesn't mean that I have to answer to him."

Elena turned back toward him – grateful for the fact that he had already put on some pants – ready to confront him. She needed him to see her point.

"You don't understand, Damon." She told him, trying to keep her calm. "I'm his best friend, which makes you off limits for me. As soon as he finds out about what happened, he's never going to forgive me and who could blame him? I mean, I'm the worst friend ever."

As she said those words, Elena realized how true they were. The more she thought about what she had done, the worse she felt. Forget about Stefan never forgiving her, she was never going to muster the courage to even look him in the eye ever again. How could she have done something like this to him? Sure, sex with Damon had been amazing, but had it been worth all that would happen now?

Damon looked down at her, feeling slightly irritated by the fact that she seemed to think about them sleeping together as a mistake. "You're making way too big of a deal of all this. Last night was fun, okay? That's all there is to it. We slept together and whether you want to admit it or not, you had a great time."

Elena shook her head but Damon kept talking, stopping her before she could say anything.

"Now, as far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't mind a repeat of last night. I think you and I could have a lot of fun together. You'll have to go back to Mystic-whatever sooner or later, so why not make the best out of the time we have together?"

Elena couldn't believe what she was hearing. She felt disappointed by Damon. She had thought there was something more in him, that he too had felt the connection between them, but it turned out that he was merely interested in sex with her.

"So what, I should become your fuck buddy and every time you feel like it you'd call me and we'd have sex? Are you serious?" She stood up from the bed and started gathering her clothes. "I can't believe you! Was this your plan all along? Sleeping with me and making me agree to this insane agreement?"

"Absolutely not." Damon told her shrugging on a t-shirt. "I'm not making you do anything. I'm just saying that should you want to, I'd be more than happy to have sex with you again. If you don't want that, it's totally fine. It's not like I'm going to follow you around and beg you to sleep with me again. The choice is yours."

Elena remained silent. Damon went on talking.

"I don't know you very well but I'm usually a good judge of character." He told her, sliding on his belt. "It's clear to me that the relationship between you and my brother is a pretty strong one. Hell, the only reason you're here is because you wanted to help him find me, right?"

Elena nodded silently, curious as to what he was trying to accomplish with his words.

"Well you found me, so now why don't you just do what _you_ want to do? Why not putting yourself first instead of others?" He asked her. "If you mean that much to my brother, then why would us sleeping together be a problem for him? It's not like it would prevent me from getting to know him."

Elena shook her head with a wry smile.

"It's not that simple."

Damon shrugged his shoulders as if it didn't matter to him and moved closer to her.

"As I said, the choice is yours." He said in a low voice. "Right now you have two options; you can either stay here and eat breakfast with me, or you can leave."

He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and leaned forward to press a light kiss to the corner of her mouth.

"Whatever your choice is, it's fine by me."

With those words, Damon turned and walked away leaving Elena alone in his room.

She stared at the closed bedroom's door wondering when exactly her life had become so complicated. She could already feel a headache slowly growing behind her eyes. She started gathering her clothes, slipping on her bra and panties, thankful that her clothes were still intact. Nothing could spare her the stride of pride through the city, but at least she'd be presentable doing it.

Once dressed, she found her purse on a dresser by the door. A quick glance to the floor revealed that her heels were safely tucked away by the door where they'd be easy to spot without getting in the way.

As she turned on her phone, Elena thought about Damon's words. It was true that she tended to put other people's needs and happiness before her own – particularly in Stefan's case – but was it really such a negative thing to do? She liked helping people; it made her feel good and needed while also making other people happy. Plus, it wasn't like she neglected her own needs in favor of other people's.

Damon didn't know what he was talking about.

Elena was aware that for the last few months, her life had basically revolved around Stefan's issues, but she had gladly helped him. And maybe she sometimes wished he would be more appreciative of all she had done for him so far, but she understood that he was going through a lot at the moment. Being his best friend since forever had taught Elena that, sometimes, Stefan could be a little self-centered. This time though, she felt he was partly justified in being it.

The way she saw it, becoming Damon's friend with benefits – because he was basically proposing that, no matter how he put it – seemed like an incredibly petty way of showing her displeasure with being underappreciated.

That was not what a best friend would do.

As soon as Elena's phone was turned on, it vibrated in her hand, notifications for missed calls and messages popping up all over the screen. She quickly answered the messages from her mother, and scrolled through the ones left by Stefan. Reading his texts inquiring where she was and to call him to let him know where she disappeared to only confirmed what she had been thinking all along.

She couldn't stay.

As much as she was reluctantly tempted by Damon's offer, she needed to go back to Stefan and tell him everything that had happened. He would get angry, of that she was sure, but she would make it clear that it had been a one night thing.

He would need some time to wrap his head around the fact that his best friend had slept with his brother, but Elena was confident they would be okay in time.

Mind made up, Elena slipped on her heels and left the bedroom. She found herself in a large living room that opened up on a kitchen right on the other side of where she was standing. Much like the bedroom she had been in – consisting mainly of modern pieces of furniture in colors ranging from white to black to gray – the minimalist décor was all modern design with sharp angles and minimum decorations.

Damon had his back to her as he moved around in the kitchen. Elena heard a low sizzle coming from where he was standing, meaning that he was actually preparing the breakfast he had mentioned before.

Feeling embarrassed by the way she was just going to leave him there, Elena shuffled unsurely toward the apartment door she knew to be in a short hallway to her left.

"I'm going to go." She simply said out loud. "Thanks for, uh, offering to prepare breakfast but, uh, I think it's better if I just go."

Damon didn't even turn toward her, he simply raised his hand in a salute. "See you soon."

It kind of hurt her to be so nonchalantly dismissed. Elena wondered if he'd ever been really interested in her remaining for breakfast, or if he had directly been preparing food only for himself just assuming she would decide to leave.

If nothing else, Damon's lack of concern on whether she was going to stay for breakfast or not, made it a lot easier for Elena to turn her back to him and stride out of the apartment without a backward glance.

As she went down the stairs, Elena focused on ignoring the disappointment she felt growing inside of her the more she kept thinking about Damon. She needed to focus on what was really important at the moment; going to Stefan and telling him the truth.

Outside, Elena threw one last glance at the building before going her way.

The walk back toward the hotel felt incredibly slow. Elena kept feeling as though everyone was looking at her knowing exactly what she had done and silently judging her. She knew that wasn't really happening, but her mind wouldn't stop bothering her.

When she reached the hotel, Elena paused outside the door for a moment. She breathed in deeply to calm herself, repeating in her mind that everything was going to be okay. Stefan would understand. After everything they had been through, he simply had to understand.

"Okay, Elena." She whispered under her breath. "You can do this."

She pulled out her phone and checked the time. It was still early in the morning, meaning that the mess hall of the hotel was still open for anyone who wanted to eat a late breakfast. Elena decided to check there to see if Stefan was still downstairs – for as long as she had known him, he had never skipped breakfast if he could avoid it.

Elena walked inside the hotel and turned to the left, passing through the double-doors that led to the mess hall. Seeing as the hotel wasn't exactly big, the limited space of the room made it easy to check if Stefan was there. Elena immediately saw her friend sitting alone at a table.

She straightened up and marched right up to him, sitting down on the seat opposite his.

Stefan looked up to see who sat down at his table.

"Elena!" He exclaimed, eyes wide in surprise. "Where the hell have you been? I've been calling you since yesterday evening!"

Elena nervously twisted her fingers as she spoke without looking Stefan in the eyes.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was leaving, that has been so stupid of me. I turned off my phone at the club 'cause it was low on battery and I only turned it on this morning and saw all the missed calls. I'm so sorry, Stef."

Stefan leaned forward on the table and took her hand in his. "I'm not angry at you, I was just worried. When I went back to our table, you weren't there anymore and I couldn't find you. I'm glad you're okay."

He smiled at her, hoping to help putting her at ease. He truly had been worried sick when she had just vanished at the club. His smile turned into a frown when Elena kept staring down at the top of the table.

"Elena what's going on? Did something happen?"

She really didn't think there was a nice way to break the news to him so, in the end, she just blurted it out in one go.

"I slept with Damon." She said in a small voice.

Stefan's hand stiffened on top of hers.

"I'm sorry what did you say?"

Elena slowly looked up and met his stare. "Last night when I left the club I was with Damon. We went back to his place and…Stefan, it was a one time thing and I'm not proud of it which is why I'm telling you this right now."

Stefan pulled back his hand and Elena half-attempted to take it back in hers, only to decide against it and rest her hands in her lap.

"I understand if you're angry right now and I get it. You have every right to be." She told him as Stefan looked at her with unnaturally calm eyes. "I just want you to know that I regret what happened and I don't want this to ruin our friendship. It happened and I'm sorry, but what's done is done."

After a moment of silence, Stefan seemed to shake himself out of the eerie calm that had settled upon him as Elena had first told him that she had slept with Damon.

"What's done is done?" He repeated incredulously. "Elena, are you serious? You're telling me that while I was worrying about you, you were having sex with my brother? The brother I'm trying to form a relationship with and that barely spends time with me? That brother?"

"Stefan…" Elena tried to speak.

"Was this your plan all along?"

"What?" She asked, taken aback by Stefan's insinuation.

"I knew you were pretty obsessed with The Nobodies' songs, but I figured that was just who you are. It's not the first time you've obsessed over a band so I wasn't worried." Stefan shook his head and leaned back against his chair. "I guess you were obsessing over one specific part of the band, right Elena?"

For the second time in less than two hours, Elena couldn't believe what she was hearing. First Damon and now Stefan; she was starting to feel fed up with the brothers. How could he imply that she had accompanied him only so she could meet Damon and sleep with him? Who did he think she was?

"Okay, you're obviously upset and you don't realize what you're saying, so I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you imply what you just did." She said holding her hands up in a gesture of peace.

"No, I mean it Elena." Stefan insisted. "I've seen the way you look at him; the way he looks at you. I'm not stupid, I didn't say anything because I trusted that you wouldn't act on whatever was going on between you two. Now I see I should have said something, but you know what they say about hindsight."

Before Elena could say anything, someone stopped by their table and leaned down to speak to them in hushed tones.

"You two need to lower your voices, you're making a scene."

Elena frowned, looking at Caroline without really understanding her presence in that mess hall. What was she doing there? Her eyes slid to Stefan and suddenly, it all made sense.

"Wow." She huffed. "You're telling me off for sleeping with Damon while you were here with Caroline? You must have been really worried last night."

She heard Caroline's sharp intake of breath, but she ignored it. She focused instead on Stefan, who was looking at her with hard eyes. He leaned forward on the table, resting his elbows on the flat surface to get closer to her.

"We aren't talking about me here, we're talking about you." He said in a low voice. "And by the way, I didn't sleep with Caroline. Unlike you, I didn't jump into bed with the first person I met."

It felt as though the entire mess hall had been plunged into silence. For a moment, Elena truly believed that Stefan had not just said what he did. He couldn't have said that to her of all people. She was sure it was all just a bad dream; in a second she would wake up and everything would be normal again.

Except it wasn't a dream.

Abruptly, Elena stood up and walked out of the mess hall as fast as she could without breaking into a run. She felt her eyes prickling with tears, but she gritted her teeth and held them back. She would not cry where he could still see her. She wouldn't break down in front of him like that.

She left the hotel and barely managed to cross the street and fall onto a bench before she felt her will crumble. She buried her face into her hands and let herself cry in silence. Stefan's words hurt worse than she thought possible. Never had he said something so deliberately cruel to her, not even during their worst fights.

She had expected anger from him, but this was so beyond what she had imagined. She didn't know how to deal with everything that was happening. She didn't know what to do. A part of her had wanted to stay in that mess hall and defend herself against Stefan's accusation, while another part of her didn't think she'd be capable of even looking at her friend.

If they even were friends anymore.

How had everything gone so bad? If she had known that sleeping with Damon would have caused such horrible happenings, she would have slapped herself in the face and told him she was fine exactly where she was, thank you very much.

Suddenly, someone sat on the bench next to her.

Elena hastily dried her tears before turning to look at her new companion. Caroline was looking at her with a sympathetic smile while holding out a handkerchief to her. Elena reluctantly accepted it – she knew she probably looked like a mess – and rubbed her eyes dry.

Caroline let her adjust herself before speaking to her.

"I know I'm probably the last person you want to talk to right now, but I didn't like the thought of you been alone out here. Especially after what he said."

Elena felt a pang in her chest as Caroline reminded her of what had just happened.

"Anyway," the blonde went on. "I just wanted to make it clear that Stefan and I did not sleep together. I left my phone at the club last night, and Bonnie left before me. She had the keys. Stefan offered me a place to stay and when you didn't come back, he let me sleep in your bed. That's it. Nothing happened."

Elena turned to look at her.

"I don't care if you slept with Stefan. He's not my boyfriend and what he does is not my business." She let her know in raspy voice.

Caroline shrugged her shoulders. "Still, I felt like I needed to make myself clear."

Elena nodded. "Doesn't change the fact that he shouldn't have said that."

"Of course it doesn't! I can't believe he said something like that. Just one word Elena and I'll go back in and hit him square in the nose. I don't care that you two are best friends and I'm practically a stranger for you, I will do it if you want me to."

Elena was a little taken aback by Caroline's outburst. It hadn't escaped Elena's attention how Caroline had immediately gravitated toward Stefan. That was actually why it wouldn't have surprised her if the two of them had ended up hooking up last night. Although Stefan had always needed more than a gentle push to make a move with girls.

"Thank, Caroline." She said with a small smile. Her offer had really touched her. "It won't be necessary, though. He kind of had a right to be so angry; I've been a horrible friend."

Caroline scooted closer and rested a hand on Elena's shoulder. "Honestly, you don't strike me as someone capable of being a bad friend. Not even if you tried to be. I only caught part of the argument – I know eavesdropping is bad but in my defense, you guys were speaking pretty loudly – and I don't think you should be made to feel bad just because you slept with a guy you met three days ago."

Elena suddenly remembered that Caroline was one of Damon's best friends. It was a little unsettling to hear her talk about her sleeping with Damon so casually.

"Doesn't it bother you that I had sex with him?" She asked before even thinking.

Caroline frowned. "Why should it bother me?"

Elena shrugged, not knowing what to say. "I don't know…"

Caroline moved a strand of hair away from her face. "Damon is like my brother, but that doesn't mean I don't see the kind of guy he is; God knows how many girls he's slept with. Not that I think you're some kind of stupid bimbo willing to sleep with the first man you meet." She added as soon as she realized how her words could be interpreted.

Elena breathed out a laugh.

"I'm just saying that…Damon's a complicated guy, Elena. He doesn't open up to people he doesn't know, and he has a hard time trusting others." Caroline told her. "If you two want to have sex, that's fine. But you need to realize that if you find yourself wanting something more in the future, it won't be easy to make him see that."

Elena soaked up every word coming out of Caroline's mouth. She felt she could now understand Damon a little bit better, although she really didn't want to delve into the memories of her morning with him.

Caroline's phone beeped. "Shoot, I've got to go."

She stood up and turned to look at Elena with unsure eyes. "Are you okay with being alone, now? You could come to the studio with me if you want!"

Elena really didn't want to see Damon so soon after their night together. She told Caroline not to worry, that she was feeling better and would find a way to spend the day on her own. Which was easier said than done, apparently.

She walked around the city for the rest of the morning, not really paying attention to where she was going. At lunch, she found a little joint that served some truly amazing Asian food. A couple of times she found herself on the verge of searching for Stefan before quickly remembering that she was eating alone.

The afternoon passed in a similar way. She looked around a couple of shops and bought some things she would bring back home as souvenirs for her parents and Jeremy. At a certain point, tired of walking, she stopped at a park and sat on a bench close to a pond. She felt like a sad old lady feeding the ducks, willing time to pass by faster.

It was after dinner that she realized she had a real problem. She didn't want to go back to the hotel to sleep in the same room as Stefan. She had calmed down since that morning, but his words still hurt every time she thought about them.

She didn't have enough money on her to pay for a room somewhere, and she wouldn't even have known where to look for a cheap place to stay.

With nowhere else to go, she found herself going back on her steps. She didn't know how she mustered up the courage to press the button to Damon's apartment door, but she did. It turned out, he wasn't home.

Elena sat down on the step in front of the entrance door and hugged her knees to her chest. She realized she probably looked like the portrait of misery itself, but she couldn't find it in herself to care.

After what felt like hours, she heard a set of footsteps get closer and stop right in front of her. When she looked up, Elena found Damon looking down at her with confused eyes. She didn't say a word, simply staring at him. The words she needed to say were stuck in her throat.

Damon silently moved past her, pulling out his keys. Elena hung her head down. She heard him slide the key in and turn it to open the door, the sound mocking her.

"Are you coming in or do you want to spend the night out here?"

She jumped up at the sound of Damon's voice, scuttling inside without needing to be told twice.

The door closed softly behind Damon.

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	13. Brother's Keeper

**AN: Here we are with the next chapter! A lot goes on in this chapter so buckle up! Thank you to all who reviewed, favorited and followed this story; you guys rock!**

 **I have yet to answer to your reviews but I promise I will get to them soon. I've had a busy week and I barely found the time to write at all.**

 **Shout out to my beta delena21051 for her amazing work with this story!**

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Chapter 12 - Brother's Keeper

For the second time in as many days, Damon woke up next to Elena. Of course, this time they were both clothed – he had given her a pair of boxers and one of his old long-sleeved shirts – and nothing happened the night before, but he was still very aware that it was the first time he's ever woken up next to the same person two mornings in a row.

He stared at the ceiling, marveling at yet another example of how his life had changed in a matter of days.

When he had seen Elena sitting on the step in front of his apartment the night before, he had initially thought that she wanted to take him up on his offer of casually hooking up when they felt like it. One good look at her, however, had told him everything he needed to know.

It hadn't taken a genius to realize that she had told his brother what had happened between them and things hadn't gone too well. The fact that she had been waiting outside his building late in the evening had erased any possible doubt coming to his mind. She hadn't felt like staying in the hotel room she shared with Stefan and had turned to him as her last resort.

Damon had never invited a girl to stay at his place for the night – unless it included sleeping with said girl – but Elena had looked so miserable out there. He hadn't really had a choice.

She had initially offered to sleep on the couch, but that would have been a really dick move on his part so he had told her she could take the bed. Elena had protested saying that she couldn't throw him out of his own bed, but he had made it clear that he had no intention of giving her the whole bed. He had told her that they would both sleep in his bed. To his surprise, she had only hesitated for a second before accepting – although she had him promise there would be no funny business during the night.

Now, here they were.

Damon turned his head to the side to look at Elena. She was lying on her side, her back to him, still deeply asleep.

Had this been a normal morning with a woman he had slept with the night before, he would have moved closer to wake her up and see if she was up for a quickie before they each went on with their day, never to see each other again. It was the way he preferred things, to be honest. No complications, no feelings.

With Elena, however, he wasn't sure he could actually try to do something like that. It kind of irritated him the way she seemed to take away all his securities with women. He had always known exactly what he could or couldn't do with women, how hard he could push his luck and when it was time to respectfully back off when his attention wasn't appreciated.

Elena wasn't like other women though, which brought him to another thing that left him feeling unbalanced; his plan of sleeping with her to get her out of his system had royally backfired on him. It had taken every scrap of self-control in him to let her go the day before, even though his body craved her as he had never craved anyone else before.

He could do little about that, though. Elena had made it clear that she didn't want to be his 'fuck buddy'. He frowned at that. Maybe he had failed to make it clear to her that he wouldn't be using her to get himself off whenever he felt like it, that was not what he wanted. He wanted the two of them to be on the same level so that they could see how good sex could be between them. If their first night together had been so good, he could only imagine how things could be with a bit of practice.

Maybe Elena wasn't the type of girl that did casual relationships, though.

Before he could go down that train of thought, he was distracted by a low sound coming from Elena. He could be mistaken, but it had sounded like a barely stifled sob. He frowned and remained listening. A moment later, he heard the same sound again this time accompanied by a slight tremor of Elena's shoulders.

Damon felt his heartbeat speed up at the realization that Elena was silently crying next to him, probably attempting to not alert him. He didn't know what to do. It was clear that whatever had happened between her and Stefan was a lot more serious than he had originally thought. Had Elena been right when she had said that Stefan wouldn't forgive her for sleeping with him?

He felt anger bubble up inside of him. What was Stefan thinking?

Another sob, this time slightly louder, made Damon spring into action.

"Elena?" He asked in a soft voice. "Are you alright?"

Elena's body twitched at his words. She drew the sheets closer to her body and tried to pretend nothing was happening.

"I'm fine." She sniffled.

"Are you sure?" Damon tried again.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry if I woke you up." She hastily scrubbed away her tears.

Damon cringed at the way her voice wavered as she spoke. It was clear that Elena had no intention of telling him what was going on. Still, Damon knew he couldn't just leave her like that. She was hurting and even though crying made him uncomfortable, he had to do something.

But what could he do?

He thought back to all the times Caroline or Bonnie had needed someone to comfort them. Most of the times they simply needed someone to listen to them as they vented, something Damon had discovered he was good at. Other times they wanted someone to rant with them or, alternatively, someone who would give them advice.

Judging from the stilted responses he had received from Elena, Damon surmised she really didn't want to talk to him about the thing that was troubling her. He understood. They weren't so close that she could just open up to him; plus, he was part of the problem.

Elena's trembling got worse.

Damon wracked his brain in search of something he could do. Suddenly, he remembered when Caroline had told him about her parents and how she had ended up in the orphanage. That time, she hadn't needed someone to listen to her, she had needed someone to hold her and tell her everything would be alright.

The situation was quite different, but maybe Elena needed that kind of comfort. He had noticed she tended to be physical in her relations with others.

Before he could talk himself out of it, Damon sprang into action.

He moved closer to Elena and slowly encircled her waist with his left arm. He drew her near until her back was flush against his chest, and bent his knees to follow the curve of her legs. He slid his right arm under the pillow Elena was resting on and left it there, unsure what to do.

"What are you doing?" Elena asked, voice tense and body stiff.

"I don't have bad intentions, I promise." He told her. "I just thought you might appreciate having someone close to you."

Elena wiggled in his arms. "I told you I am fine."

Damon leaned his chin on the top of her head, slightly tightening the hold on her waist. "I know you are."

Probably understanding that there was no escaping his hold, Elena stopped struggling against him and just laid limply in his arms. She didn't relax, though. Damon felt her rigid as a piece of wood against him and frowned. He was supposed to offer comfort but she didn't seem to be feeling better; quite the contrary, she seemed to be even worse off thanks to his nearness.

In an attempt to fix things, he began humming the tune of a new song of his that he needed to jot down. A day earlier Elena had expressed her love for The Nobodies so he hoped that this impromptu performance would help cheer her up.

He mentally sighed in relief when he felt her sag lightly against him. He kept his humming going until her sniffles stopped and she rolled over to look at him. Damon let go of her waist and backed away to give her some space.

Elena met his gaze for a second before lowering her eyes. "Thank you." She murmured.

"No problem." He smiled trying to lighten the mood and ease her embarrassment. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Not really."

"It's just that it's clear that things between you and my brother did not go well and, you know, I can't help but feel slightly responsible." He didn't want to come off as nosy but wasn't talking supposed to help with this kind of stuff?

"Really?" Elena found it hard to believe he felt responsible, seeing as he'd had no problem being all indifferent the day before.

Damon shrugged his shoulders and raised a hand in front of his face, thumb and forefinger almost touching. "Just a little bit."

Elena couldn't help the little smile that curved her lips.

"If it's okay with you, I'd prefer it if we could change the subject." She said in an effort to move on from memories of the day before.

"Fine by me." Damon was quick to answer. He searched for a new topic of conversation. "You know what's really weird about all this?"

Even though she knew it was a rhetoric question, Elena still asked, "What?"

"This is the first time in my entire life that I wake up next to the same woman, two days in a row." He sounded impressed with himself.

"Am I supposed to feel flattered?" Elena asked him sarcastically.

"Hey, you were the one who asked for a change of subject." Damon defended himself.

"That is true." She conceded. After a beat of silence, she felt the need to ask. "You seriously wake up every morning next to a different woman?"

Damon huffed a laugh. "Not _literally_ every morning, but yes that's how things usually are. I'm not really relationship material; I consider myself more of a two-ships-passing-in-the-night kind of guy."

Elena thought that that seemed like an incredibly lonely way of living one's life. No stability, no true connection with anybody. It was also quite a self-deprecating thing to say, when she thought about it. It almost sounded like Damon didn't place any value on himself, something that clashed with the easy confidence that seemed to exude from him.

"What about you?" He asked her.

"I've had only two boyfriends so far, and only with one of them it was actually serious." She told him honestly.

"Let me guess; he was the quarterback and you were the cheerleader captain and queen of the school." He made fun of her.

"He was the quarterback and I was on the cheerleading squad _but_ ," she raised a finger in front of her when she saw him smile in victory. "I was not the captain and I was certainly not the 'queen of the school'," she used her fingers to create the inverted commas. "And before you ask, I was not crowned Queen at prom. I didn't even go to prom."

Damon lifted an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

Elena nodded with a tight-lipped smile. "Yep. I was at home with chicken pox."

Damon burst out laughing. "Ouch, that must have been terrible for you." He said as he kept laughing.

"Not really. I'm not that much of a dancer."

"Still, missing prom is just horrible." Damon said having reigned in his laughter.

Elena chuckled at the way he seemed genuinely sorry for her. His laugh was infectious and it immediately lifted her morale.

"What about you? I bet you were the typical bad-boy that every girl wanted to be with and that every guy wanted to be like."

Damon shook his head. "Trust me I was not popular in school, at least not in a good way. I was often involved in fights with other students and although girls wanted to be with me, they just wanted it for the thrill of dating the bad guy."

Elena frowned. "Why were you in fights? Was your year full of idiots? Because if it was, I can totally understand you. In my year there was this group of guys that made me want to slap them so hard, their head would have done a three-sixty."

Once again, Damon shook his head. "I was the rich kid that preferred to be on his own; awful mistake on my part. They thought I was being superior, that I didn't want to mix with common people, so they picked on me. I had a lot of pent up anger so I didn't back down from a chance to release some of it." He huffed a laugh. "Idiots."

Elena spoke before taking the time to think about her words. "Is that how you got those scars?" She vaguely gestured toward his arm and back. "You must have been in pretty rough fights to leave you with those marks."

She immediately realized she had said the wrong thing. Damon's smile vanished into thin air and he clenched his jaw so hard she thought she would hear it shatter. His blue eyes clouded over with unadulterated fury, his stare taking on a distant look as if he was reliving the memory of those high-school fights. His hands closed into fists as he moved restlessly under the sheets. He seemed ready to fight.

Elena almost recoiled at the raw display of emotion. She didn't think Damon would harm her, but she couldn't help the uneasy feeling that gripped her as she watched him struggle against his memories.

It was all over in a moment.

Damon schooled his features back into the easy-going man with whom she had been talking not even a minute before, though he couldn't completely erase the hard edge clinging to his eyes.

"Yeah, I was in pretty rough fights." He simply said, no other explanation given.

He rolled away from her and swung his legs over the side of the bed, standing up with a graceful if a little rigid movement. He walked into the en-suite bathroom and closed the door behind him, effectively ending the conversation.

Elena let out a slow breath, mentally cursing herself for her lack of tact. She had already noticed how Damon liked his privacy, so why did she have to go and ask about his scars? The way he had just shut down at the mere mentions of the marks on his skin had scared her, for a lack of a better term. Everybody had scars, it was just the way things were; the only thing that changed was the story behind them.

Elena wasn't so sure she wanted to know how Damon had gotten his anymore.

The bathroom door opened and Damon came out. He seemed calm and collected, his eyes clear again.

"I'm going to prepare breakfast, you coming?" He asked her.

Elena didn't need to be told twice. She jumped out of bed and followed Damon as he made his way toward the kitchen. She jumped up on the counter wanting to observe him as he cooked. She had never seen a man cook before – her mother had banned her father from the kitchen – and there was something soothing in the way Damon moved around with practiced ease.

"You okay with blueberry pancakes?" He placed a pan over the stove.

"More than okay."

She silently watched as Damon moved around preparing breakfast. He washed the blueberries and put them in a small bowl for when he would need them later, then he opened the fridge and grabbed the bottle of orange juice that Enzo had bought before coming home the previous evening. He turned to open the cupboard and grab three glasses, flipping the pancakes in the process before they could burn.

Elena debated whether to apologize for upsetting him in the bedroom, but she was so enthralled by him that she decided not to say anything. Better not upset him again now that he looked relaxed.

"Do me a favor and grab three plates, they're in the cupboard behind you."

She jumped off the counter and turn to do as Damon had said. As soon as she had the three plates staked one over the other, Damon half-turned to look at her and flip two pancakes on the plate on top.

Elena looked at him with her mouth agape. "That was so cool."

Damon grinned smugly at her. "I know."

He poured the mixture for the pancakes in the pan and then followed her as she went to put the plate on the table. Elena lifted an eyebrow as he made a smiley face with the blueberries.

"It's tradition." Was his only explanation.

He went back to the stove and Elena decided to do what she could to help him. She put the other two plates on the counter so that Damon could have them close, then she took the glasses to the table and poured orange juice in them. When Damon flipped a couple more pancakes onto one of the plates, she followed his lead and made a smiley face with the blueberries receiving a nod of approval from him.

"Should I call Enzo and tell him that breakfast is ready?" Elena asked taking the plate to the table.

"No, don't worry. He'll wake up as soon as he smells the pancakes."

As soon as those words left Damon's mouth, Elena heard the sound of a door opening. Enzo stepped into the living room still half asleep and immediately sat down at the table.

He hummed appreciatively when he noticed the smiley face on his pancake. "Everything back to normal?"

Elena frowned at the question but Damon seemed to know what it meant.

"Not quite there yet, but I'm getting closer."

He finished cooking his pancakes and went to sit down in front of Enzo. Elena sat next to him, feeling a little out of place. The night before, Enzo hadn't said a word about her presence in the apartment though she had seen the way he had looked at Damon. There had been a silent question in his eyes that Damon had left unanswered.

Now, as they ate their breakfast in a slightly uncomfortable silence, Enzo looked at her intently. Elena felt as though he was trying to figure out exactly how she had ended up sleeping in their apartment two nights in a row. Maybe she was wrong, but Elena thought there was a subtle hostility in his gaze.

"So Elena, you and Damon seem to be getting quite close." Enzo said taking a sip of his orange juice.

Damon glared at his friend.

"It's not what it looks like." Elena kept her tone light. "I had a horrible day yesterday and couldn't go back to my hotel room. Damon was kind enough to let me stay but I will leave as soon as the situation gets better."

Enzo nodded, slowly chewing his pancake and ignoring Damon's silent request to stop it with the questions. "I wasn't trying to be rude, it's just that we have a lot on the plate at the moment and Damon can't afford to be distracted. I'm sure you understand."

Elena smiled tightly at him. That's what it was all about. Enzo was trying to make sure that she wouldn't come in between what they were doing, possibly screwing everything up. She also recognized how in his own way Enzo was trying to look out for his friend. She could appreciate his efforts to have Damon's back.

"Don't worry; I won't be in your way for much longer. I don't want to be responsible for ruining what you guys are accomplishing." She told him.

Enzo nodded in agreement, holding her gaze.

"By the way, Elena," Damon jumped in seeing an opportunity to change the subject. "What are you going to do today? The others and I have to go to the studio to keep recording so, if you want, you can stay there unless you have something else in mind."

Before Elena could answer him, Enzo hummed around his mouthful of pancake and pointed his fork at her.

"That reminds me; Care said that your friend is going to stay with us at the studio today."

Elena honestly wanted to accept Damon's offer of going to the studio. Just the thought of watching The Nobodies play for the entire day made her giddy. However, she didn't want to see Stefan, not yet. His words were still fresh in her mind and they still hurt.

"I don't really want to stay cooped up inside the whole day." She lied. "I'll find something else to do."

Damon watched her closely. He swallowed the last of his pancake and gulped down what remained of his orange juice, before standing up.

"Get dressed." He told Elena as he took his plate to the sink. "I'm dropping you of at Kieran's place. At least you won't have to roam the streets like a stray cat all day."

"It's really not necessary." Elena tried to say.

"I'm not taking no for an answer."

From the way he was looking at her, she knew he really wouldn't. She stood up with a small sigh and took her plate to the sink. Without glancing at Enzo, she followed Damon to his bedroom. She grabbed her clothes from where she had put them neatly folded on a chair, and went to the bathroom to change.

When she came out, Damon was already waiting for her.

The two of them went back in the living room where Enzo was looking at them with resignation.

"You and the girls go ahead without me. I'm taking the car and I'll meet you at the studio." Damon told him as he pocketed the keys to his car.

Enzo raised a hand to wave him off. "Sure, man. I'll have some coffee ready for you."

"You're the best."

With those words, Damon gestured for Elena to follow him. The two walked inside the elevator and Damon pushed the button marked -1 to take them to the underground garage. They rode in silence and when the doors of the elevator opened, Elena followed Damon as he marched right up to a light blue car distinctively older than the shiny Audis and BMWs parked next to it.

"What car is this? It's beautiful." Elena ran her hand lightly over the hood of the car.

"It's a 1969 Camaro. I bought it a couple of years ago as a gift to myself."

Damon unlocked the doors and slid into the driver seat. Elena didn't waste any time in sitting down next to him. Inside the car, she was hit square in the face by the smell of Damon's cologne. She held back the embarrassing moan that wanted to escape her lips and focused instead on putting her seatbelt on.

Damon turned on the engine and put the car in first gear. He drove to the exit of the garage and took an immediate right, pointing the car toward Saint Joseph's Church.

"Are you sure that Father Kieran won't mind me staying with him? I mean you didn't even tell him that we would be going to his place."

"He's used to people crashing at his place. Trust me, he won't mind. He spends all his days in his church so you'll basically be able to do what you want." Damon kept his eyes on the road as he answered her.

"Where does he live exactly? Do priests live inside their churches? Because that would be cool in every sense of the word."

Damon chuckled at her words. "No, he has a small house in the gardens behind Saint Joseph. It's a lovely place. You'll like it."

They arrived at Saint Joseph later than Damon would have liked – thank you city traffic. To make sure he could get to the studio on time, Damon found himself forced to leave Elena right in front of the church without going in with her to talk to Father Kieran. She was understandably nervous about walking up to the priest and basically tell him that she was going to hang around for the day.

In the end, he did manage to convince her that Kieran would take her request in stride and probably enlist her in helping around in the church.

He drove off with a promise that he would see her again that evening so that she could figure out what to do about her sleeping arrangements.

Damon parked his car close to the entrance of the studio. Stepping out of the car, he saw Stefan about to enter the building so he jogged up to him.

"Stefan!" He called out.

Stefan turned around and waited for his brother to reach him. As he moved closer, Damon took notice of how tired Stefan looked. There were dark bags under his eyes and his hair wasn't as well combed as usual – Damon had wanted to crack a joke about his brother's hair care, but had decided to remain silent in an attempt to not antagonize him.

"Listen, I think we really need to talk." Damon said.

"About what?" Stefan said despondently.

Damon rolled his eyes at his brother attitude. "About me and Elena sleeping together." He really couldn't be bothered to beat around the bush.

"Elena already beat you to the punch. She already told me that it was a one-time thing and that she regretted it. There's nothing more to say about it."

Damon decided to ignore the uncomfortable twist of his insides at Stefan's words. Elena's words. "Clearly you need to talk some more about this, otherwise Elena wouldn't have felt forced to sleep at my apartment instead of your shared hotel room. I don't know what happened between you two and frankly, it's not even my business to ask—"

"Exactly, it's none of your business so why are you even speaking to me now?" Stefan interrupted him angrily. "You slept with my best friend who you only met what, three days ago? And I'm supposed to act like nothing happened? I mean, it's not like I've been trying to get to know my own brother receiving only a couple of moments where we actually talked, while apparently you didn't have a problem getting to know Elena quite well, right?"

Damon merely raised an eyebrow at his brother's words. Was that really the problem for Stefan?

"And while I actually listened to her when she said that I had to take your side of things into consideration, and move one step at a time in getting to know you, she went behind my back and slept with you without even thinking about how I would feel about it."

By the end of his rant, Stefan was almost shaking. Damon listened without uttering a word as his brother let go of all he had on his chest, waiting patiently for him to make his point before saying what he felt he needed to say.

"Are you done? Am I allowed to speak now?" He asked calmly.

"Screw you." Stefan hissed and turned to walk inside the studio.

Damon grabbed him by the arm and backed him against the wall beside the entrance of the building.

"Now you listen to me Stefan and you listen carefully." Damon spoke quietly. "I owe you nothing. Do you understand me? Nothing. When Kieran told me that you wanted to meet me, I could have said no, I could have ignored you and went on with my life as if nothing had happened. But I didn't. I agreed to meeting with you and I do want to get to know you, but don't _ever_ think that you are owed something by me."

Stefan stared at him in stunned silence.

"I slept with Elena because I wanted to, because _she_ wanted to. If you're expecting me to say that if I could go back in time I would change things, you're going to be disappointed. What Elena and I do doesn't concern you. Whether she and I will sleep together again or not, that has nothing to do with you and me getting to know each other. She doesn't need to ask your permission if she wants to have sex with someone and neither do I."

Stefan lowered his eyes, unable to bear his brother's stare. Damon let go of his arm and took a step back. It really was none of his business what he and Elena did, but he couldn't help but feel like he needed to intervene. When had he become such a softie?

"Elena is a good person Stefan, one of the few in this world. If you could stop feeling mortally offended by something she shouldn't have to feel guilty about, you would remember that." He sighed. "She accompanied you all the way here to find me, didn't she? She could have left you alone but she decided to stay by your side because you're important to her."

He walked up to the entrance of the studio and grabbed the door-handle. "If you decide to grow up and pull your head out of your ass, I'll let you know that Elena is at Saint Joseph's today."

Throughout the morning, Damon saw Stefan sitting with a pensive look on the other side of the window separating the room where The Nobodies played their songs and the recording booth. As far as he was concerned, Damon had done his part in the mess he'd found himself involuntarily caught into. He could stop feeling responsible for something he shouldn't have felt responsible for in the first place, especially since Elena apparently regretted what happened between the two of them.

He hadn't expected Stefan to go to Saint Joseph as soon as he knew where Elena was, but he was sure that his brother would find his way there by the end of the day.

During their lunch break, Damon caught a movement with the corner of his eye. When he turned, he saw Stefan taking his leave trying to look inconspicuous.

He felt strangely proud of himself.

~.~

Elena was lying in the sun on a blanket in Father Kieran's garden when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching her. Thinking that it was Father Kieran coming to tell her that it was time for them to eat, she sat up and looked in the direction of the sound.

Her body tensed when instead of the kind priest she saw Stefan making his way toward her.

He stopped three feet away from her, hands in his pockets and eyes to the ground.

"I heard you were here so I thought I could join you." He said tentatively.

"If you're here to insult me again, you can leave."

Stefan grimaced at her words and shuffled his feet, clearly uncomfortable. "I suppose I deserve that."

"You definitely deserved that." She muttered.

He moved closer and sat down next to her, carefully studying her expression to see if she didn't feel comfortable having him this close to her. He mentally sighed in relief when she scooted a little to the side to make room for him on the blanket.

"I've come to apologize to you." He told her.

He waited for her to acknowledge his words but she simply stared ahead without giving him a sign that she even heard him. When the silence stretched for half a minute, Elena turned to look at him with hard eyes.

"I'm waiting for this apology." She told him drily.

Her tone of voice almost made him gasp. He reminded himself that he was the one in the wrong and that she was understandably crossed with him.

"Yeah, so…I'm sorry for the way I reacted the other day when you told me you, uh, slept with Damon." He said, stumbling over the word 'slept'. "I shouldn't have accused you of doing everything that you've done just so you could have sex with Damon. I know you're not that kind of person and I'm ashamed of what I said to you. It won't happen again."

Elena nodded to herself, still not looking at him. She drew her legs up to rest her chin on her knees. Stefan thought she still looked pretty detached from him. He knew he couldn't expect her to just shrug her shoulders and forget about what happened. Her silence, though, was deeply upsetting.

"What brought this about?" She wanted to know.

Stefan shook his head, still a little baffled with his encounter with Damon in the morning. "Believe it or not, it was actually Damon who pushed me into apologizing." He looked at her with a small smile curving his lips. "It was the most brotherly gesture he had for me since we met and…I don't know; it made me realize that you sleeping with him really had nothing to do with me and him forging a relationship. Actually, if you hadn't slept with him, he wouldn't have come to me to tell me off so…"

Elena worried her bottom lip between her teeth, mulling over what Stefan had told her. He seemed genuine enough in his apology, though things still didn't feel right between them. Not like before.

She turned to look at him. "I suppose I can accept your apology."

Stefan smiled at her and moved to sling an arm over her shoulders. Elena moved away in a silent rejection that stopped him in his tracks.

"I said I accept your apology." She repeated. "That doesn't mean that you're forgiven."

"But you said…"

"I understand your point of view, Stefan and I accept your apology." She said slowly. "But it's not enough for me to forgive you. After everything I've done for you, I didn't deserve to be called a slut."

"I didn't—" A quick glare from Elena made him shut up.

"Even worse, you made me feel ashamed of myself, like I deserved to be demeaned like that." She said, barely controlling her voice. "You were so quick to cast your judgment and you made me feel like a horrible person, when you were the one behaving like a bigot."

Stefan swallowed around the lump forming in his throat. "I'm sorry."

"I get that." Elena said forcefully. "But I'm going to need time before we can go back to the way we were before."

A long silence stretched between them. They had always been together growing up, never too far one from the other. Now, though, it felt like there was an abyss separating them.

"As a start, I think I can go back to the hotel with you." Elena was the first to interrupt the silence.

"Yeah, about that." Stefan found the strength to speak. "We're kinda running low on money right now. We're good for tonight, but we really need to figure out what to do if we want to stay here."

Elena heaved a deep sigh and massaged her temples with the tips of her fingers. She really didn't need that particular news at the moment. It was true that the hotels in Boston had been a lot more expensive than they had anticipated, but she thought they had more time to figure out what to do.

"Excuse me."

The two friends turned to their right, where the accented voice had come from. Father Kieran stood at the edge of the garden, hands clasped behind his back and a soft smile gracing his lips.

"I might have a solution to your problem."

* * *

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	14. Boys and Girls

**AN: Here we are with a new chapter! Thank you all for the wonderful reviews, they all mean a lot to me! A big thank you to the guest reviewers whom I cannot thank personally.**

 **As always, a huge thank you to my beta delena21051!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 13 - Boys and Girls

Elena padded barefoot across the tiled-floor of the bathroom. She stopped in front of the sink and ran her hand over the mirror right in front of her, clearing away the fine layer of condensation created by the hot shower she had just taken.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror, checking her face for traces of lack of sleep. There were the hints of dark circles under her eyes, nothing that a fine layer of concealer wouldn't cover up. She ran her hands through her wet hair, frowning slightly at the way her fingers remained stuck. She huffed in frustration and grabbed a towel she had left near the sink to towel dry her hair before brushing it vigorously.

Satisfied with the way she looked, Elena left the bathroom and walked into her bedroom. It wasn't exactly _hers_ , but still…

Having heard of their predicament, Father Kieran had generously offered her and Stefan to come and stay at his house for as long as they would be staying in Boston. Elena had been reluctant to accept such an offer as she really didn't want to live off the priest's generosity, but she and Stefan needed a place to stay and didn't exactly have many options laid out in front of them.

The two friends had accepted to stay with the priest, provided he let them do whatever they could around the house as a way to pay off their debt. Kieran had accepted and told them to choose whichever room they preferred as theirs.

Elena had immediately chosen the room with the windows facing toward the front of the house, the church rising toward the sky above the top of the trees lining the road that lead to Kieran's house.

In her excited state, she had completely forgotten to look around the room to see who its previous inhabitant had been. Of course, as soon as her head had hit the pillows that night, she had realized that she must have claimed as hers what had been Damon's room.

Although faint, his perfume still clung to the sheets she had burrowed herself into.

She had closed her eyes trying to sleep anyway, but just Damon's smell made memories of the nights they had spent together spring free. She had briefly entertained the idea of switching rooms, but she had felt a wave of possessiveness hit her at the thought of staying in his room.

In the end, she had decided to remain where she was, though the memories replaying in her mind coupled with the slight uneasiness at sleeping in someone else's house had made it extremely difficult for her to rest.

As she stepped into the room with nothing but a towel wrapped around her body, Elena tried not to think about Damon doing the exact same thing on who knew how many mornings.

She opened the closet's door and pulled out her suitcase. This wasn't her room so she preferred to keep all her belongings in her suitcase; it didn't feel right to stash her things together with Damon's. He didn't live there anymore, but it was still his room, his clothes, his belongings, his memories. She didn't have the right to intrude in his past like that.

Elena dressed for the day and tied her hair in a messy bun on top of her head, leaving the room and walking downstairs with the intention of preparing breakfast. She wasn't exactly a chef, but she was confident she could scrounge up something decent.

Entering the kitchen, she discovered that Father Kieran had beaten her to the punch.

"Elena, good morning! Did you sleep well?"

Father Kieran was already dressed in his cassock, a white apron covering his front as he expertly flipped pancakes. Next to him on a plate, there was a pile of pancakes neatly stacked and ready to be eaten.

"I slept well, thank you." She lied. She moved her weight from one leg to the other. "I was hoping I could cook breakfast for you to kind of thank you for your hospitality. I mean, you've opened your house to me and Stefan, the least I can do is cook breakfast."

Father Kieran listened with a small smile as Elena stumbled her way through an explanation. He flipped the last pancake on the plate and turned off the stove. He took the plate to the table in the small living room she had passed coming downstairs.

"Don't worry, Elena. I honestly don't mind having someone else around the house. I don't like it when it's too quiet." He said kindly. "I'm used to waking up early and preparing breakfast for everybody, but I'll leave that to you if you feel the need to repay me. By the way, could you grab three plates from the cupboard over the sink? And there should be blueberries somewhere in the fridge, I've already washed them."

Elena jumped at the chance to do something. It seemed that these days the best she could do was fetch plates and blueberries for the men preparing her breakfast. She took a mental note to set the alarm on her phone earlier so she could wake up before Father Kieran the next day.

She went back to Father Kieran and he took the blueberries from her with thankful smile. As she divided the pancakes between the plates, he drew smiley faces on them with the blueberries.

Elena smiled at the sight. "So that's where Damon learned how to make his smiley pancakes."

"When did you have the chance to eat breakfast cooked by Damon?"

Elena almost dropped the plate in her hand when she realized what her words had practically revealed to the priest. Father Kieran's question held no judgment, but Elena still felt unbearably embarrassed. She had no idea what she was supposed to say.

Thankfully, she was saved by Stefan joining them in the living room.

"I heard you guys talking from upstairs and I got down as fast as I could." Stefan said apologetically. "I was thinking of cooking breakfast but I see you have me beaten."

Father Kieran slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Don't feel too bad, Elena didn't precede you by much."

"I just grabbed the plates." She muttered sitting at the table, cheeks still red from her earlier embarrassment.

Stefan sat next to her and Father Kieran took his place on the seat right in front of her. Elena kept her gaze fixed on her plate, cutting her pancake and forking it with forceful movements. When she dared to look up, she found Father Kieran staring at her. He smiled at her with a mischievous glint lighting up his green eyes.

Elena lowered her eyes and stuffed her mouth with pancakes, a furious blush taking hold of her face.

"Tell me Stefan, how are things going between you and Damon? I haven't had the chance to talk much with him since he and the band started recording their first album." There was a not so veiled note of pride in the priest's voice.

Stefan swallowed before answering. "Things are…okay between me and Damon. I mean, I wish we could spend more time together but I understand that what he's doing right now is extremely important."

Father Kieran nodded and took a sip from his glass of milk. "I'm glad you understand, Stefan. I admit that upon meeting you, I had my concerns. Perhaps, I have been a little hasty in my judgment."

Stefan seemed to lose himself in his musing for a moment. He pushed his food around the plate for a moment before looking up at the priest.

"Can I ask you to tell me more about him?" He asked uncertainly. "He doesn't seem the kind of person who likes talking about himself. Maybe if I knew more about him it would be easier for us to connect."

Elena didn't need to see the way Father Kieran's eyes subtly hardened to know that Stefan had just asked the wrong question.

"I can certainly tell you some things about Damon, but that won't make it easier for you to form a relationship with him. You need to talk and listen to him if you really want to know him." As always, Father Kieran spoke in a calm voice that mitigated the harshness of his admonition.

Stefan lowered his eyes.

"What you are trying to do is bridge years of forced distance without actually trying to know your brother and I won't stand for that; that is not what Damon needs." The priest's eyes softened as he looked at Stefan's contrite expression. "Damon is not an easy person to deal with but if you go behind his back and ask others to tell you his story, you're just proving to him that he was right in shutting you out."

Stefan nodded jerkily, his fingers clenched around the fork in his hand to the point of becoming white. "I just wished there was something I could do to make things easier for us."

"The only thing you can do is be patient and show him that you're in this for the long haul."

The rest of the breakfast was spent in silence as both Stefan and Elena thought about what the priest had said. Father Kieran's words had confirmed something Elena had already suspected since the moment Stefan had told her about his brother. Damon had some clear abandonment issues, which explained why he was so guarded in Stefan's presence.

Elena couldn't say she blamed him; his mother had left him when he was just a little kid and Damon probably thought that Stefan would just do the same when it was time for him to go to college.

While Elena and Stefan washed the dishes, Father Kieran asked them if they had any plans for the day.

"We don't really have anything planned so if you have anything for us to do, please do tell us." Elena said. "I know you said we're your guests but it would really make us feel better if we could do something for you."

Kieran ran a hand through his hair. "Well, if you insist…how much do you know about gardening?"

That was how the two friends spent the entire morning taking care of Father Kieran's garden – after a lengthy lesson on how to properly care for plants. Before leaving for his church, the priest had told the two friends that Damon and the others would stop by for lunch since Marcel had decided to give them the afternoon off.

Elena wasn't sure how to react at the news. The night before, as promised, Damon had come over with Caroline – apparently, Enzo and Bonnie wanted to rehearse a couple of pieces together – but the man had been surprisingly cold with her. Elena had tried to approach him to thank him for speaking with Stefan that afternoon but he had just smiled tightly and turned to speak with Caroline.

Elena honestly didn't know what to make of Damon's changing moods. She thought they had made progress the day before while speaking in bed. He'd been so sweet trying to comfort her even though she could tell he felt awkward in that situation. And then, he had actually told her something about himself and even though she had ruined the moment asking him about his scars, they had made progress.

Caroline had said that Damon didn't trust easily, but as far as Elena knew, she had done nothing to make him feel like he couldn't trust her.

Between mowing the lawn, watering Father Kieran's precious lilies and planting new flowers to replace the few plants that had died, the morning passed quickly. Before they knew it, lunchtime was coming around.

When the nearby bell tower struck twelve, Elena looked down at herself and grimaced. Gardening had proven itself a much dirtier job than imagined. Her jeans would probably need to be washed twice to erase the stains caused by kneeling on grass and soil for so long.

Stefan had left to put away the gardening tools Kieran had given them so Elena decided it was okay for her to go upstairs and change into some clean clothes. She opted for white short shorts and a red top with the words 'It's a girls world' on the front that left her shoulders bare.

Elena went back downstairs to lay the table before Father Kieran came back. She almost had a heart attack when she entered the kitchen to find that someone was already there.

"Caroline!" She exclaimed bringing a hand to her heart. "When did you get here? I didn't even hear you come in!"

Caroline turned from where she was washing the salad and smiled brightly at her.

"Hey, I didn't know you were staying here with Kieran." Caroline dried her hands on her apron and moved closer to Elena to draw her in a tight hug. "Is Stefan here too? How are things between you two? I know that Damon spoke to him but I really don't know what happened after that?"

Elena couldn't help but smile at the rapid-fire question the blonde was throwing at her. Caroline was the kind of person with a personality that drew everyone in.

"Slow down, Caroline." She smiled. "Father Kieran offered to let me and Stefan stay here since we're kinda low on money at the moment. Things are fine between me and Stefan; he apologized for what he said and we're fine." It was a boiled down version of what happened but Elena figured it wasn't time to share all the details.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at her. She stared at Elena for a long moment before nodding to herself and humming low in her throat.

"If you say you're fine, I guess I'll leave it at that. My offer still stands though; one word and I'll punch him. I bet I can even get Bonnie on board."

"Get me on board with what?"

Bonnie strolled into the kitchen and made a beeline for the fridge. She grabbed a bottle of beer and took a long sip. She nodded at Elena in greeting before looking at Caroline for an answer.

The blonde shrugged her shoulders and went back to the sink to wash some tomatoes. "Oh, you know the usual; punching a guy who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut."

"Oh, I'm definitely down for that." Bonnie said without hesitation. "You know me, hoes before bros."

"Hoes before bros." Caroline repeated fist-bumping Bonnie.

Elena felt the need to step in before the two girls could start planning Stefan's death. "Honestly, it's fine really. I appreciate the offer but I think everything is going to be cool."

"Your choice, 'Lena." Caroline said. "By the way Bonnie, why aren't you with Enzo and Damon?"

"Ugh, those two are already caught up in the usual. I'm not getting in the middle of that."

"I hear you."

"The usual?" Elena felt like she was missing part of the conversation.

Bonnie took another sip of beer before answering. "Every time we come here to eat all together, those two idiots always fight over who is in charge of the TV. It starts with name-calling and ends with them literally fighting over the remote. Usually it's fun to watch but I'm not in the mood today."

"Shouldn't you stop them?"

Caroline laughed. "They won't hurt each other if that's what you're worried about. By the way Bonnie, you should finish that beer before Kieran arrives. You know what he thinks of people drinking alcohol before 5."

"It's unbecoming." The two girls said at the same time, eliciting a chuckle from Elena.

From the other room, Elena heard the sound of voices intermingled with grunts and cries of victory. She couldn't be certain but she swore she heard Stefan's voice joining the other two. The fight between the three men came to a stop when Father Kieran came back and snatched the remote from them.

Lunch passed quickly in a flurry of jokes and laughter. Elena had always loved family meals spent talking about everything and nothing, affectionate jabs thrown from one person to the other without ever carrying the intention to hurt. Watching how the members of that unique family interacted made her feel nostalgic of her own family meals.

"Since we have the afternoon off, Damon and I were thinking about going to the cinema to watch Ant-Man. Anyone wants to join us?" Enzo spoke up.

"Pass. You know I love the MCU but if there's no Iron Man then it's not worth it for me." Bonnie leaned back in her chair. She raised a hand to high-five Damon without even having to look at him.

"Amen, Bonnie." Damon leaned forward to plant a kiss on Bonnie's temple.

"I'd like to come with you, if that's okay." Stefan said. "I've never heard of Ant-Man before but superhero movies are usually a safe bet."

"The more the merrier, but that's not the attitude you want to have when you come with me and Damon to watch a Marvel movie. We'll see about fixing that." Enzo sounded extremely serious.

"Cool, we can make it a men day out." Damon said. "Blondie will surely say no so that's perfect for us."

Elena didn't fail to notice how he had conveniently forgotten about her. She was about to say something – she actually did enjoy superhero movies – when Caroline spoke first.

"Better for us. Me, Bonnie and Elena are going to the mall to spend a perfect afternoon without testosterone around us for once. That's okay with you Elena, right?"

Elena looked at Caroline and Bonnie a little unsure. She didn't know much about them and she risked being the third wheel since the other two girls were best friends. On the other hand, Damon had made it perfectly clear that he didn't want her around and even though things between her and Stefan were strained, she knew this was an opportunity for him to spend time with his brother.

Besides, she couldn't even remember the last time she had gone shopping with a group of female friends. Maybe she could make new friends with the two girls.

"Sure, it sounds like fun." She said.

~.~

Damon, Stefan and Enzo left the theatre surprised by how much they had enjoyed the movie. Although he hadn't been too sure of Stefan's inclusion in their day out, Damon had genuinely enjoyed spending time with him. During the movie, he had been sitting between Enzo and Stefan and so had had the opportunity to once again witness his brother's sense of humor.

More than once during the movie, Damon had almost burst out laughing at a comment Stefan made regarding a specific scene.

"You know, I honestly can't believe I sat through an entire movie where the main character was a guy who controls insects and actually liked it." Damon told his two companions as they walked out of the theatre. "Only one thing could have made this movie better."

Enzo groaned by his side. "I swear to God, Damon, if you say RDJ I'm gonna throw myself under the first bus I see."

"Don't be so dramatic."

"Is he your favorite actor?" Stefan asked his brother, curious after the exchange between the two friends.

"More like his man crush." Enzo snickered.

"Hey, I respect the man!" Damon defended himself. "He had a shitty childhood, made dumb decisions that landed him in jail, but then he got his shit together and turned his life around. If nothing else, I can respect that."

"Whatever, I'm going to the bathroom. You guys can wait for me outside."

Damon waved Enzo off and left the theatre with Stefan right behind him. The two brothers went to where Damon had parked the car and leaned against its hood while they waited for Enzo to come out. Judging by the tons of people coming and going from the theatre, they were going to wait for a while.

"I talked to Elena." Stefan said, sneaking a glance at his brother to see if he had any reaction.

Damon nodded to himself. "I'm glad you did." He simply stated. When Stefan remained silent, clearly waiting for him to say something else, Damon went on. "All forgiven?"

"Ah, no." Stefan smiled in a self-deprecating way. "She said she understood where I was coming from but that she needs some time before she can forgive me."

"What did you tell her to get such a reaction?"

Stefan rubbed the nape of his neck. "I might have implied that sleeping with you so soon…kind of…you know, made her…"

Damon slowly turned to look at him. "You're not serious are you?"

Stefan's shameful silence was enough of an answer.

"Jesus, Stefan." Damon tutted disapprovingly. "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that maybe I was already losing you to her before even knowing you." Stefan admitted. "And I know you're right when you say that you don't owe me anything, and I know I behaved like the worst friend ever with Elena but I just…I just really want to know you, Damon."

Damon clenched his jaw and looked ahead. They had already gone over this the day before, but he couldn't deny that Stefan's position wasn't exactly idyllic. He had told himself that he wanted to form a relationship with his brother, but Damon wasn't handling the situation in the best way. Stefan knew nothing of his life and past and Damon couldn't dump his issues on him without making an effort to meet him in the middle.

But how could he explain that he had this memory of Stefan as a child stuck in his head that contrasted so much with the adult Stefan was?

"We used to get along you and I, when we were little. We barely got a month together but…" He said, a small wry smile curving his lips. "I remember the first time I held you in my arms. I was so scared I was gonna drop you that Lily had to help me bear your weight."

He left out the part where he could barely hold up Stefan because his wrist was still in a cast from the time Giuseppe had pushed him down a flight of stairs for back talking.

"You cried a lot when we went home and nothing Lily did seemed to work. You only stopped crying if I made faces at you." Damon laughed through his nose. "I liked you a lot even though you did nothing but sleep and cry."

Stefan remained silent, absorbing every word and holding onto them for dear life. It was the first time Damon voluntarily spoke about what his life had been like in the beginning.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I have all these memories of you as a baby, and now you're here and you're obviously not a baby so…" Damon paused to gather his thoughts. "I'm not crazy, of course I knew you weren't a baby anymore but I think I really understood that when you showed up here. It's like you're two different people and I don't know how to let go of the Stefan I remember to get to know the Stefan you are now. That's my problem though, not yours."

Stefan thought about his brother's words. He couldn't even begin to understand how Damon must be feeling. He had no memory of Damon he could fall back on so to him it was like trying to get to know someone for the first time. The fact that he was trying to get to know his brother – someone he should have already known – made things harder, but at least he didn't have to reconcile the Damon he knew with the one he met.

He wanted to make Damon feel better – talking about the past had clearly rattled him – but he didn't know what would be permitted. He wanted to rest a hand on his brother's shoulder but feared he would be rejected.

"Can I ask you something?" Stefan edged carefully.

"Go ahead."

He thought about his words before speaking. "Can I ask why Mom decided to leave?"

For a moment, he thought Damon wasn't going to answer him, but then his brother laughed joylessly beside him. "I guess she couldn't go on living with Giuseppe."

"Giuseppe?"

"My father." Damon amended, remembering that Stefan couldn't know the guy's name.

Stefan perked up at the mention of his father's name. Julian was the only father he'd ever had and he was a good father, but still he couldn't help wanting to know who is biological father was.

"Does Giuseppe live here or…?"

"He's dead." Damon deadpanned. "Died a couple of years ago."

"Oh." So much for getting his hopes up. It seemed like his parents' marriage hadn't exactly been a successful one, but still. "I'm sorry." He offered.

"Don't be. He wasn't much of a father. You didn't miss anything special."

Before Stefan could say anything else, Damon pushed away from the hood of the car and turned away, walking toward the driver's seat.

"Enzo is here. We should go."

~.~

"Man, I'm beat!"

Caroline fell unceremoniously onto the comfy couch in Father Kieran's living room, ignoring how Elena and Bonnie dragged themselves inside behind her, hands encumbered by the bags of clothes bought by the blonde.

"Don't mind us, Care. No need to help us." Bonnie huffed, dumping her bags next to the door.

Elena followed her example, but decided to graciously set the bags on top of the living room table. Thanks to the afternoon spent together, she felt comfortable in the company of the other two girls, but she still didn't want to offend Caroline by dumping her stuff around.

"Do you guys want anything to drink?" Elena asked.

"Yes, please! I think I saw some of Kieran's iced tea in the fridge this morning." Caroline said from where she was sprawled all over the couch.

"Bonnie?"

"A glass for me too, thank you." Bonnie said grabbing a chair and sitting astride it, arms folded over the back.

Elena went to the kitchen and quickly filled three glasses with iced tea. She went back into the living room, carefully balancing the glasses, and passed one to Bonnie before turning toward Caroline. The blonde sat up and accepted the glass, leaving enough room for Elena to sit down.

"So Elena, what's going on between you and Damon?" Bonnie asked resting her glass on the table.

Elena almost choked on her tea. "W-what?"

"Don't even bother denying it, we all know you slept with him and that you had breakfast with him yesterday." Bonnie calmly explained. "Damon's never cooked breakfast for a woman before, so you must be pretty special."

"How do you even know all that?" Elena still couldn't quite understand what was happening.

Caroline set her glass on the floor and sprawled back on the couch, plopping her feet in Elena's lap. "It's hard to keep secrets when you spend all your days with the same three people. The night you and Damon had sex, Enzo messaged Bonnie to let her know and of course, I found out about that because I heard you and Stefan arguing the morning after."

Elena's head was spinning. She didn't know whether to be amazed or disturbed by the lack of privacy displayed by The Nobodies.

"Speaking of, is it true that Stefan is Damon's brother?" Bonnie asked curiously, leaning forward in her chair.

"How do you know that?" Elena gasped.

Bonnie merely raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, that's kind of on me." Caroline had the decency to look embarrassed. "I heard Stefan refer to Damon as his brother while the two of you were arguing and I _had_ to tell the others. In my defense, you two were speaking quite loudly."

Elena honestly didn't know what was the right course of action in that situation. Should she deny everything or just confirm their suspicions since they already had the whole story figured out?

"You can tell us the truth, 'Lena." Caroline spoke kindly, figuring out that they had upset their new friend with their sudden questions. "We won't say anything to Damon, so you don't have to worry."

Bonnie shuffled closer on her chair. "Yeah, we're only asking you because if we wait for Damon to tell us on his own, we might wait until the day Jesus returns. I love him but let's be serious; he has the whole lone wolf act down to a t."

Elena leaned back on the couch and blew out a breath. Her head was spinning and she couldn't quite believe what was happening. Here she was thinking that only she, Stefan and Damon knew what was going on only to realize that everyone already knew everything. To be honest, though, it was a huge relief knowing that the secret was out.

"Well, here goes nothing…" She said under her breath.

And so she told them everything. She told them about Stefan finding out he had a brother, about seeing Damon in a picture of their band and about their decision to go on a road trip chasing after the man they thought could be Stefan's brother.

Caroline and Bonnie listened in silence as Elena told her about the immediate attraction she felt toward Damon and about the night they ended up sleeping together. When she reached the part where she told Stefan about what happened between her and Damon, she realized she couldn't continue. Caroline told her she didn't need to tell Bonnie about that part as the blonde could simply give her the cliff notes version.

Elena smiled thankfully and went on to tell them about the way she and Damon had talked the morning after she went back to him, about how sweet and open with her he'd been.

"Wow, that doesn't sound like the Damon we know." Bonnie commented. "I mean, he is pretty sweet when he wants to be, but he's never been like that with anyone beside us."

Elena drank the last of her iced tea. "Yeah, well. He's probably regretting that because he's done nothing but avoid me."

"That's Damon for you." Caroline muttered.

"I just wish I knew what goes on in his head." Elena exclaimed. "One moment he's sweet and the next he gives me the cold shoulder and I can't stand it. It'd be easier if I knew what I've done to deserve his indifference."

Bonnie heaved a sigh. "Damon is the kind of guy that keeps everything inside, Elena. You probably didn't even realize you did or said something to offend him. He pulled the same thing with me once. Only when I called him out on it did he tell me he'd been hurt by something I'd said without even thinking about it."

Elena wasn't convinced. She'd gone over and over their interactions and she was sure she'd said nothing that could have offended him. Nor had she done anything to hurt him.

"Bonnie's right, 'Lena." Caroline took her hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. "It seems to me like you two have something going on and if you want to pursue anything with him, you need to be direct with him. He'll never come out with what you've done on his own; you have to be the one who makes the first move."

Their conversation was interrupted by Father Kieran's return. The priest told them that Enzo had called him to say that they would eat pizza that night and that he needed to know which toppings each one of them wanted.

After Caroline had sent Enzo a message with their decision, the three girls laid the table while the priest went upstairs to change. Enzo and the others arrived around eight, hands full with pizza cartons. Soon everyone took a seat at the table to enjoy another meal together among excited movie reviews by the boys and a detailed recount of Caroline's purchases.

After dinner, Damon stood up and walked outside to breathe in some fresh air. Upon Bonnie's insistence, Elena followed him outside.

Damon was leaning on the porch railing, eyes fixed on the outline of Saint Joseph's church barely visible over the top of the trees.

"Hey." Elena said softly.

Damon turned to look at her. He'd been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't even heard her coming outside.

"Did you need anything?"

Elena held back a grimace at his tone. Clearly, he had no intention of making things easier for her.

"I just wanted to thank you for speaking with Stefan yesterday. He apologized to me. You didn't have to do that but you did it anyway and I wanted to thank you for that. I would have thanked you earlier but you've been on a let's-avoid-Elena-path so…"

Damon's head turned in her direction so quickly she was sure he strained something.

"What do you want from me, Elena?" He snapped at her.

"I want you to tell me what your problem is." She snapped right back at him. "One second you're this caring guy comforting me even though you could have just ignored me, and the next second you're a completely different person. Seriously, who are you? Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?"

"It's none of your business—" He started grumbling.

"No, it is my business when you pull out the whole hot and cold routine." She told him, fed up with him.

"You were the one who told Stefan you regretted it!" He exploded.

Elena frowned, not sure what he was referring to. "What are you talking about?"

Damon gripped the wooden porch railing in his hands, head lowered between his arms. "When you told Stefan about us sleeping together, you said you regretted it."

Elena tried to think about whether or not she'd said that. To be honest, the part of the conversation that kept repeating itself in her head was the part where Stefan had basically accused her of being a slut. When she tried to remember what she'd said before, she realized that she had in fact told Stefan that sleeping with Damon had been a mistake.

"Look, I told you that it's up to you whether you want things to go on between us or not." Damon kept talking. "But if there's one thing that annoys me is when people lie to themselves, and you're lying to yourself by saying you regretted what happened between us. I certainly remember you being more than enthusiastic."

"I panicked, Damon." She told him before he could go on accusing her. "I just…" she took a deep breath. "Things were going worse than I'd imagined so I just said the first thing that I thought could make Stefan less angry, okay?"

Damon scoffed at her and turned to walk away. Elena would have none of it, though. She closed her hand around his arm and pulled him toward her. Damon reluctantly looked at her.

"I'm sorry I said I regretted it, okay?" She told him softly. "I never thought what happened between us was a mistake. What we did felt right." She admitted.

Damon looked her deep in the eye for a long moment, before pulling his arm out of her hold.

"It doesn't matter." He said firmly.

"But—"

"I don't like being yanked around, Elena." He interrupted her. "You need to make up your mind. Either you want something to happen between us or you don't and we'll just go our separate ways. Either way is fine with me, but I'd appreciate it if you could just stick to whatever it is you decide."

Having said what he needed, Damon walked back inside leaving Elena to wonder what exactly had just happened.

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	15. Decisions, Decisions

**AN: Hi there, guys! I am incredibly sorry for my missed update last Sunday. I had zero time to write and, unfortunately, I am also going through a major lack of inspiration brought about by what is happening on the show. Although I can assure you I won't let this story unfinished (I already have its chapters planned), the way Damon is being treated in the show is really bumming me out. Btw, I know I haven't responded to your reviews but, as always, you know I will.**

 **Before we start, there is a song in this chapter that I feel I need to already point out. It's a rock cover of Dark Horse made by a band called Our Last Night (you can find them on YouTube), just so you have a way to hear the way I imagined Damon singing it.**

 **On with the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 14 - Decisions, Decisions

Lying on a blanket in Father Kieran's garden, Elena let the calm of the morning wash over her. She was completely alone. Stefan had gone to the studio per Damon's request and Father Kieran was already busy with his church. Elena could have gone with Stefan and spent the morning listening to The Nobodies, but she had decided to keep her distance.

" _I don't like being yanked around, Elena. You need to make up your mind. Either you want something to happen between us or you don't and we'll just go our separate ways. Either way is fine with me, but I'd appreciate it if you could just stick to whatever it is you decide."_

She wasn't avoiding Damon per se, at least she didn't think she was. His words that night a week before had rung true; she had been misleading in her way of dealing with him. She hadn't purposefully tried to confuse him – on some level even Damon understood this otherwise he wouldn't have accepted so quickly her explanation for what she had unthinkingly told Stefan.

But understanding that didn't mean that what she was doing was okay.

The simple truth was that Damon confused her probably more than she confused him. Even before meeting him, she had felt moved by this man who could put such deep emotion and passion in the way he sang. She had believed that because she could hear how Damon was speaking to the world through his songs, that she somehow already knew him. Things weren't so simple, though.

Understanding the way he sang had surely been an advantage – she suspected things between her and Damon would resemble Stefan's situation if that weren't the case – but she'd made the mistake of believing that she already knew everything she needed to know about him.

Elena pursed her lips and shifted on the blanket, keeping her eyes closed as she chastised herself.

How could she have been so naïve? There was no way to condense a man as complicated and passionate as Damon in a 3min long song. There was so much going on behind those beautiful blue eyes of his that Elena suspected it would take a lifetime to learn everything there was to know about him. Perhaps it would take even more than that.

A rustling sound from above her made Elena open her eyes. She had found refuge from the hot rays of the summer sun beneath a tree in a corner of the garden. As she looked at the sky through thick foliage, she wondered how she was going to proceed with Damon.

He'd told her to make up her mind, but that was easier said than done. She had never met someone like Damon and it left her reeling. She thought that was probably a result of the attraction she felt for him and the fact that he was a man, not a boy like her previous love interests. She was really out of her depths.

Not for the first time, Elena wished she could talk with her mother.

"What would Mom say?" She asked herself. "When you don't know what to decide, think about what you know for certain and work your way up from there."

That was what her mother always said whenever Elena didn't know what to do. She supposed it was worth a try.

Elena tried to enumerate what she did know when it concerned her situation with Damon. She was interested in him – there was no sense in denying that – and he was interested in her – at least physically. She wasn't seeing anyone and from what she knew, neither was he. Caroline and Bonnie had already noticed that something was going on between her and Damon and if the way Enzo had spoken to her during breakfast at his and Damon's place was anything to go by, he had noticed too.

Apart from Enzo who was a definite I've-got-my-eyes-on-you-don't-you-try-anything, the two girls didn't seem to mind the idea of her and Damon getting involved. After their debacle, Elena trusted that Stefan had understood that he had no business meddling in her affairs. No one was openly against them. Even if they were, did it really matter? Elena didn't think so. What she and Damon did was their business.

"I guess we can rule out the 'my friends don't approve of this thing' motivation."

Then what was the problem?

When it came down to it, the problem was the kind of relationship Damon was interested in having. Elena had nothing against people who got into relationships based exclusively on sex; she personally thought that as long as everyone involved knew exactly what they were getting, everything was perfectly fine. She just wasn't that kind of person.

She had always been extremely caring and she didn't do half-measures. She couldn't keep sleeping with Damon without feeling some sort of investment in him. If she was honest with herself – and alone in that garden with no one to judge her, she could be – the only reason she had slept with him in the first place was because she was already halfway there in falling in love with him.

Elena knew, without the shadow of a doubt, that if she allowed herself to, she could easily fall in love with Damon Salvatore.

She didn't know whether she believed in the whole love-at-first-sight myth. The reasonable part of her told her that you couldn't fall in love with someone you didn't really know, that love didn't just happen, it had to be cultivated day by day spending time with that one person you had chosen among many.

The romantic part of her, however, wanted to believe that sometimes magic could happen. After all, what had been the chances of the two of them meeting in the first place? Hadn't Damon's voice traveled across miles and miles to reach her in her father's shop by mere chance? Hadn't Stefan convinced her to accompany him to Boston on a hunch to meet someone he simply believed to be his brother?

Maybe, occasionally, the universe did try to bring together two souls simply destined to be together.

It was a terrifying thought, and not simply because she had met him only days ago. Elena wanted more than a mere physical relationship with him. She wanted to be a part of his life even after she and Stefan had to leave to go to college. If things went well between the two brothers, Damon would become part of Stefan, and by proxy Elena's, life. She didn't want them to simply have sex when they met up, she didn't want their relationship to boil down to just that.

Except that was exactly what Damon wanted.

On some level, Elena could understand Damon's need to avoid any and all attachments to people. She wasn't stupid, she could put two and two together. As much as she didn't want to voice her suspicions out loud, Elena just knew that Damon's childhood had been far worse than either she or Stefan had imagined.

He had been abandoned by his mother when he was only seven. He had spent a copious amount of time either in the company of a priest, or in an orphanage, while his father had still been alive. His three best friends were orphans. He had chosen to keep the existence of his brother a secret from those same friends, a clear sign of deep-seated trust issues. He had scars he refused to talk about hidden beneath tattoos. The mere name of his band was telling.

Elena sighed and slung an arm over her eyes.

Damon couldn't stand intimacy, and so resolved himself to physical relationships that wouldn't hurt him as much as an emotional one potentially could. It bothered Elena that the only way to be close to him was to accept his terms. There were so many things she knew she couldn't accept of the relationship Damon wanted between them.

First of all, even though she knew he would never do anything to her without her explicit consent – he had showed her as much – she still couldn't help thinking that he'd simply be using her to scratch an hitch. She'd be a convenient way to get what he wanted without having to form an emotional bond with her. That sounded plain wrong to her.

What really disturbed her, however, was that such an arrangement would leave her feeling as though she too would be using him for nothing but pleasure. To her, sex had always been a matter of giving and taking in equal parts. There couldn't be real pleasure if both parties were simply going after their own objectives. The mere thought of reducing Damon to a means to an end made Elena squirm uncomfortably.

And yet, she was still seriously thinking about his offer.

"I'm so screwed." She moaned in a small voice.

And she really was. Even though she knew she and Damon couldn't exactly date – partly because of the way he was, partly because she would have to leave at a certain point – she still wanted to find a way to be as close to him as possible. If that meant that she'd have to compromise with him, then she could find a way to do it. After all, nothing stated that she couldn't push forward her own terms, right?

Of course, it all depended on whether Damon would be willing to hear her out.

Before she could change her mind, Elena pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and quickly dialed Damon's number. As she listened to the dial tone, she worried her bottom lip between her teeth. She stared at the sky above her, nervous beyond belief. Half a minute later, it became clear Damon wasn't going to answer the phone. Elena felt a little disappointed, but she told herself not to think the worst of the situation. Damon was at the studio so maybe he was simply busy.

Instead of calling again or going back to doing nothing, Elena stood up and walked back inside. She needed something to distract her; otherwise, she would come up with the worst possible scenarios for Damon not picking up his phone. She settled on cleaning up a bit around the house, that way she could make herself busy and do something to repay Father Kieran's kindness.

It was maybe only half an hour later, as she was scrubbing the stove clean with particular vigor, that she heard her phone ring. She turned to look at it where it rang and vibrated on the small table right next to the sliding doors leading to the garden. Fearing that it would stop ringing, Elena scrambled to pull her gloves off and practically ran to her phone.

She skidded to a halt in front of the small table and picked up the phone. Damon's name stood out on the green and white call-screen. Elena took a second to calm her breathing before sliding her finger on the screen to accept the call.

"Hello?" She mentally complimented herself for the nonchalant tone of her voice.

" _Elena? It's me, I saw you called. Do you need anything?"_ So far so good. Damon didn't sound cold or suspicious of her.

"Yeah, I was just wondering if, you know, you were free tonight. I thought maybe we could go somewhere to eat and then, I don't know, talk?" She cringed at her babbling.

The silence on the other end of the line made a trickle of cold sweat run down her spine.

"Damon?"

" _Sorry, I got distracted."_ Damon said. _"Anyway, yeah I'm free tonight. You can stop by the studio and then we'll find someplace to eat. We should wrap everything up by six-ish?"_

"Okay, that's okay." She nodded to herself. "This afternoon I'm going out looking for a part-time job or something like that. Is it cool if I stop by earlier if I get everything done on my part?" She asked carefully. "If you don't want me to just say so, don't worry." She didn't want to make him feel like he had to agree with her.

" _No, no, it's cool. Stefan's already here so it won't be a problem if you stop by whenever you want."_

"Okay." She breathed with a smile. "See you later, then."

" _Sure, Elena. See you later."_

She hung up and fist pumped the air. Step one had been a success, now she only had to meet up with him and discuss things. Hopefully, they would find a way to reach a compromise, and if they didn't well at least she had tried, right?

Elena spent the rest of the morning tidying up around the house, this time with a much lighter mind than before. By the time lunch came around, she had finished all she had set out to do and had even managed to prepare a simple lunch for Father Kieran.

The priest didn't miss the opportunity to thank her profusely, insisting that she needn't go to all that trouble around the house when he was perfectly happy just having her and Stefan around. Before Kieran left to go back to the church, Elena let him know that she wouldn't be eating at home that night, as she was going out with Damon. She didn't know how to define the subtle shift in the priest's gaze, but – dare she think it – Elena thought he looked approving.

In the afternoon, Elena finally set out to find herself a job. She knew, realistically, that she couldn't expect to find much, but even a job that would earn her next to nothing would be good. Her classes at Columbia would start in the fall so she had plenty of time to spend in Boston until the situation with Damon settled. She couldn't spend all her days doing nothing letting Father Kieran pay for everything.

Finding even a part-time job revealed itself to be easier said than done. Since they were well into summer, pretty much all seasonal jobs had already been taken by local students. All the bars and restaurants she visited with still available positions were looking for experienced servers or barmaids. She tried to search for spots open in retail, but no luck there.

By four in the afternoon, Elena started feeling pretty discouraged. She wandered through the streets, hoping beyond hope that a job would end up finding her. It didn't. However, she did end up stumbling on a small music shop that looked like it had seen better days. Since she was feeling particularly depressed and music always cheered her up, she decided to go inside.

The place was small, smaller than _Lyrics & Music_ and not nearly as well furnished. The low lights in the locale spread a yellowish tinge in all directions. Apart from the large window next to the door, there was no other source of natural light as the shop was located at basement level. There were no instruments on sale, but rows upon rows of shelves packed full of CDs went from one side of the shop to the other.

AC/DC's _Shoot to Thrill_ played softly in the background.

Elena walked around, stopping here and there to pick up a CD and read the title of the tracks on its back. Elena didn't even look where she was going as she moved from shelf to shelf, letting her mind wander peacefully. The shop was nearly empty; only one or two clients were perusing the products. That's why the sound of two people arguing in quiet tones was an immediate source of curiosity.

Elena carefully edged closer until she saw a heavily pierced man in his late twenties and a young girl no older than sixteen, arguing over which album was best to buy from the two in her hands. Craning her neck, Elena recognized the cover of Linkin Park's _Meteora_ in her right hand.

"I'm just saying that if you want to experience true rock you can't buy Linkin Park!" The man – Jason if she read the tag on his shirt correctly – said vehemently. "For one, they're a nu-metal band and for second you just can't!"

The girl huffed despondently. "You can say what you want; I'm not buying Deep Purple. I don't want that boring stuff from the sixties, I want something cooler and different. My friends say Linkin Park is way cooler."

Jason looked positively horrified to the point of pressing a hand over his chest as if checking he wasn't having a heart attack.

"Boring stuff?" He sounded scandalized. "Rose, how can you say something like that? Your friends know absolutely nothing about good music."

"That's what you say." She mumbled.

"Rose…"

"You should listen to Guns n' Roses." Elena intervened in the conversation.

The two turned to look at her, startled by her presence. They didn't look upset by the fact that she had interrupted them in the middle of what was clearly a private conversation. In fact, Jason seemed interested in what she had to say while Rose didn't seem particularly bothered by her presence.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop." She apologized. "If you want me to go away, just say so."

She half turned before Jason stopped her. "No, please stay. Maybe you'll be able to make my cousin see reason."

Rose glared at her cousin before turning toward Elena and reluctantly asking her, "What were you saying?"

 _Well, here goes nothing,_ Elena thought.

"I heard what you were saying and I think you should listen to Guns n' Roses. It's classic rock from the 80's which, let's face it, were probably the best years for the music industry. But, it's also edgy and innovative if you think about the kind of music of the time."

She turned to look at the shelves of CDs, looking for a specific one. She found it immediately – while looking around the shop she had noticed that the CDs were in order of year of recording – and went to grab a specific album. She tutted at the remastered CD version she found instead of the vinyl one, but went back to Rose and Jason all the same.

"Here." She said, handing the CD to Rose. "This is _Appetite for Destruction_ , probably one of the greatest rock albums ever. I can guarantee you will like every single song in here. What's your opinion on ballads?"

"Hate them?" Rose looked unsure.

Elena beamed at her. "Then you need to listen to _Sweet Child O' Mine_ , it'll change your opinion like no other song can."

Rose stared at the CD for a long moment during which both Elena and Jason held their breath. At long last, she looked up and narrowed her eyes at Elena. Something in her expression must have convinced Rose of her decision.

"Alright, I'm buying it. If I don't like it, I'll hold you responsible." She playfully threatened Elena.

Jason steered his cousin toward the cash area and rang up the CD. After Rose left, Jason turned to look at Elena with a pensive look.

"You know that was pretty impressive. Rose is not one to do what other people tell her to do."

Elena shrugged her shoulders. "It's just a matter of understanding what someone wants."

"You seem like you know how to do this kind of things."

"My father owns a music shop which I basically grew up in." She told him.

Jason nodded absentmindedly. "You know, I could use someone like you. You want to come work for me?"

Elena couldn't believe her luck. "Are you serious? You're offering me a job?"

He laughed and held his hands up. "I could only afford to have you here a couple of days a week, maybe more if we can attract more clients. I was thinking about renovating the place a bit. What do you say?"

"Yeah, absolutely! I'd love to work here!" Elena immediately jumped at the chance of getting a job she would actually like.

Half an hour later, she left the shop feeling like she had just accomplished something incredible. Jason had asked her to come in the next day so he could show her the ropes and discuss with her possible ways to revamp the shop and make it a place people actually wanted to go in.

Elena was practically skipping as she made her way toward the studio where she would meet with Damon. The nervousness she'd felt that morning at the thought of meeting with him was all but forgotten. Nothing could bring her down. Her search for a job had taken all afternoon, making it so she was perfectly on time for her appointment. It was close to six when she set foot inside the studio.

She made a beeline for the little room where Marcel had let her and Stefan stay the first time. She knocked lightly on the door and heard someone – Alaric? – telling her to come in.

"Hello everyone." She said closing the door behind her.

Alaric and Marcel nodded at her in greeting before refocusing on The Nobodies, whom she could see on the other side of the window. Caroline and Enzo were speaking quietly among them while Bonnie patted her forehead with a towel to wipe away the sweat accumulated there while she played her drums. Damon had his back to the window and looked to be drinking a bottle of water.

"Hey, 'Lena." Stefan greeted her from where he was sitting by the console. "What are you doing here?"

Elena went to sit on the chair next to him. "I'm going out with Damon later. He asked me to meet him here."

"Oh." Stefan seemed a little uncomfortable but soon shrugged his shoulders and leaned back in his chair. "They'll be done soon. Damon wanted to sing one last song and then that's it."

"Awesome, which song are they playing?"

"I don't know. I think it's a new one."

Elena frowned and swiveled her chair to look at Alaric. "I thought you had already chosen which songs would go in the album."

Ric nodded still looking at Damon. "We have. This song won't be in the album. He just wanted us to listen to it and give him our opinion."

"We're not even recording it. This is just a test. If it's a good song we might record it and maybe release it as a single if the album goes well." Marcel intervened.

"Honestly, I don't know what to think of it." Alaric murmured. "I read the text and I don't understand what's going on in that head of his." He tiredly rubbed his eyes. "It's just so different from the other songs he wrote."

Elena turned to look at Damon. He was speaking with Bonnie, nodding slightly at her words. Caroline and Enzo stepped closer to him and said something. Damon nodded at them and took a deep breath as his two friends shouldered their guitars and went into position. When Damon turned and took his place by the microphone, Elena was surprised to see he had his eyes closed.

"Why is he keeping his eyes closed?" She looked over her shoulder at Ric.

"He always does that the first time he sings a new song. He says it helps him stay focused and get a feel of the song." Alaric explained.

Elena hummed in understanding and watched as Damon signaled to the others that he was ready. Enzo started playing the first notes, soon to be accompanied by Caroline and Bonnie. Elena immediately liked the energy she felt coming from the music they were playing. She wondered if Damon only wrote the lyrics of their songs or if he also composed the music.

When Damon stepped up and raised his head, mouth close to the microphone, the music died down to a soft guitar riff played only by Enzo.

 _I knew you were_

 _You were gonna come to me_

 _And here you are_

 _But you better choose carefully_

' _Cause I, I'm capable of anything_

 _Of anything and everything_

Just those first few lines made Elena feel like she had been punched in the stomach. Damon always addressed someone when singing – be it the world or an imaginary person he wished could understand him. It was something she had learned from the start with him. Every song she had ever heard him sing sounded like an appeal. This one, however, sounded more like a warning than anything else. And she was absolutely sure it was directed at her.

 _So you wanna play with magic_

 _Girl, you should know what you're falling for_

 _Baby do you dare to do this?_

 _Cause I'm coming at you like a dark horse_

 _Are you ready for, ready for_

 _A perfect storm, perfect storm_

 _Cause once you're mine, once you're mine_

 _There's no going back_

Damon's voice wrapped around her as he sang his heart out. Even though his eyes were closed and he didn't know she was there, she felt as though he was staring right at her piercing her soul with those blue eyes of his. She felt Stefan shift beside her and kept her gaze fixed on the band on the other side of the glass, pretending she didn't know what Damon was singing about.

 _It's in the palm of your hand now baby_

 _It's a yes or no, no maybe_

 _So just be sure before you give it all to me_

 _All to me, give it all to me_

 _So you wanna play with magic_

 _Girl, you should know what you're falling for_

 _Baby do you dare to do this?_

 _Cause I'm coming at you like a dark horse_

 _Are you ready for, ready for_

 _A perfect storm, perfect storm_

 _Cause once you're mine, once you're mine (love trippin')_

 _There's no going back_

Elena swallowed around the lump in her throat. Now she understood why Alaric had sounded so confused by the lyrics, why he'd said that this song was different from all the others. Damon's songs were all personal and emotionally charged, but they were so in a subtle way. They were songs that could be applied to anyone, songs that appealed to the public for that exact reason.

This song, however, was personal in a completely different way. It was too flashy, too obvious in its speaking from first-hand experience. Everyone listening to him singing that song knew that he was speaking about himself. There was no barrier, no filter. It was pure and raw emotion.

 _I call her—_

Elena never heard how the song ended because suddenly, Damon opened his eyes, saw her and promptly choked on his next words. The other three stopped playing and looked at Damon with stunned expressions.

Marcel leaned forward and pushed a button on the console. "What happened? Damon are you okay?"

Damon looked at him with lost eyes as he scrambled for words. Enzo walked up to him and leaned a hand on his shoulder.

"My fault, Marcel. I screwed up and Damon lost his rhythm." He lied shamelessly. "My fingers are kind of numb from all the hours I played today. I'm sorry, I should have said something."

It was clear that Marcel didn't believe him, but he didn't push the issue. He sighed and told everyone to go home. For good measure, he told everyone to rest the next day but asked if Damon could maybe spare a couple of hours so that they could talk about the song and what to do with it.

Elena practically ran from the recording room and left the studio. She leaned on the wall next to the entrance door, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. Gone was the peace of mind she had found not even an hour ago. What was that song? What were all those raw emotions she'd heard in his voice as he sang what was a clear half warning half challenge to her?

She almost panicked at the thought of having to eat dinner with him and talk about her proposition. How was she supposed to keep a clear head in his presence if that was what he felt? Because she knew that that song had been his way of letting off his impatience, his anger and his annoyance at the situation they were in.

The door opening on her left wrenched her out of her thoughts.

"Oh hi, Elena. You ready to go?" Damon said as if nothing had happened.

The fact that he wanted to play it like that gave her the strength to look him in the eyes and answer him.

"Yeah, sure. Do you know where we could find something to eat while we walk?" Elena had originally intended to sit somewhere and eat in tranquility, but there was no way she was sitting for probably close to an hour with Damon in close proximity after what had happened.

Damon seemed to wholeheartedly agree. He led her to a small place four blocks away where they ordered two slices of pizza each. A simple dinner, yet exactly what they both needed. Neither of them could stomach something more substantial at the moment.

They walked and ate in silence, each one aware of the big elephant in the room between them. Elena hoped that by the time she was done eating her pizza, she would have found the courage to actually say what she needed to. On his part, Damon only really wanted to get it over with whatever it was that Elena wanted to talk to him about.

Elena followed him as he led them to a quiet park near Boston's harbor. As she saw the small artificial lake in the center of the park, Elena recognized it as being the park where she had stopped to feed the ducks the day of her fight with Stefan. The familiar surroundings helped her with her nerves, though she still felt a restless energy crawling beneath her skin.

Damon led her to a bench by the lake and the two of them sat down. He waited patiently for her to finish munching on her last bite of pizza before looking at her.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" He asked her, eager to get it all over with.

Elena took a moment to steel her nerves before answering. "I wanted to talk about what you said last week, about me not making up my mind. You were right, and I'm sorry that I made you feel like I was yanking you around. That really wasn't my intention."

He inclined his head, accepting her apology but waiting for her to go on. He knew this was not all she wanted to talk about.

Elena mentally cheered herself on. She had said the first part, now she needed to go all the way. "I thought about your initial proposal, and I think I want to sort of accept it."

Damon was a little taken aback. He certainly hadn't expected her to say something like that. "You _think_ you _sort of_ want to accept my proposal?"

She heaved a sigh and turned toward him on the bench, curling a leg underneath her. "Look, I don't want to be your fuck buddy, that's not who I am. I like you Damon, as in a 'you're a guy I could easily see myself dating without having to think about it'."

"Elena, I don't…"

"You don't do relationships, I know you told me, and I heard you, Damon. Really, I get it." She quickly stopped him. "In fact, I don't know that we could date even if you were into that sort of thing."

At his furrowed brow, she explained her reasoning.

"I'm going to college in New York in the fall, Damon. And if things go well for you and the band – and God you have no idea how much I hope things will go well for you – you'll probably start having concert in other cities, you could go on your first tour of the US. It would be a problem for us to date."

He understood her way of thinking, however he sensed a 'but' coming.

"But?" He encouraged her to continue.

"But, you're Stefan's brother. If things settle between you two, you will become a permanent part of his life which will make you a permanent part of _my_ life." She explained. "I don't want things to be awkward between us, nor do I want us to meet every couple of months or so just to have sex while you're in town staying with Stefan."

Damon narrowed his eyes at her. "So what do you suggest?"

"As I said, I don't want to be your fuck buddy. I don't want to simply use you for sex just 'cause you blew my mind and I kinda want a repeat of that." She knew her cheeks were probably red as tomatoes, but she'd managed to keep her voice steady and that was all that mattered. Damon's smug grin didn't help her, though.

"Elena, you know I wasn't proposing to use your body when I want to have sex, right?" He felt the need to make sure.

"But it would feel like that to me. I don't want that. I don't want you to feel like I'm just interested in your body and what you can do to mine and that's it. I told you, I like you."

Damon felt oddly touched by her words.

"So what do you want?"

Elena looked him straight in the eye. "I want us to be friends. I want _you_ to consider me a friend, someone you can trust. I want us to be part of each other's life even after me and Stefan leave."

"But you want there to be a sex component in this friendship, did I understand that correctly?"

Elena squirmed under his intense gaze. "Yeah?" She answered in a breathy whisper. "You can think about it as some sort of informal dating. We spend time together, we get to know one another, we have sex but we both know nothing can truly come from all this."

Damon hummed low in throat, eyes still staring deeply into hers. Elena felt dizzy. How had the situation changed so quickly? One minute she was calmly discussing their future relationship, and the next Damon was practically undressing her with his eyes.

"So let's say I agree to this 'informal dating', would that make it okay for me to kiss you right here, right now?" He murmured throatily, leaning forward and cupping her cheek.

Elena's breath hitched. "That depends on whether you intend to accept my proposal or not." She shivered as Damon's thumb brushed against her lips as she spoke.

"In that case…"

In a swift move, Damon closed the distance between them and captured her mouth in a searing kiss. Elena could do nothing else but surrender to him, a low moan spilling into his mouth.

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	16. One Step Forward

**AN: I'm incredibly sorry for all the missed updates. I'm afraid things will continue to be like this for a while because I have no time to write between work, studying and life in general. I don't want to write something just for the sake of posting it on time if I don't feel like the chapter reaches my standard of writing, it wouldn't be fair to you or me. I only ask you to be patient as I will see this story to its very end and I want to make it justice.**

 **Many thanks to me beta and to all of you!**

 **As always, I will get to all of your reviews as soon as possible.**

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Chapter 15 – One Step Forward

There was something different in the air that morning. Damon wasn't sure what it was exactly, but as he went about his usual morning routine, he felt somewhat different. For all that he knew, he was still the exact same man he was the night before.

Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Elena had surprisingly decided to accept his proposal. To be honest, Damon had almost given up on getting a positive answer out of her. When he'd told her to make up her mind, he'd expected her to walk up to him and say that, as much as she liked him, she preferred to just be his friend.

He thought back to the morning when he'd mused about the fact that Elena probably wasn't the kind of girl who'd go for a 'friends with benefits' kind of relationship. Had he really misjudged her? Usually, he was spot on in this sort of things, able to judge whether a girl wanted to have a good time or was looking for something more out of him. Enzo called it his superpower; Damon called it being a good judge of character.

Scratching the back of his head, Damon opened the fridge and peered inside for something to eat. He wasn't in the mood for cooking and forcing himself to prepare something would yield poor results. He snatched a yogurt from the shelf and checked the label. Expired by three days. Damon shrugged his shoulders and lightly kicked the door of the fridge closed.

He noticed a post-it note stuck to it with a couple of lines scribbled in Enzo's handwriting on it.

 _Gone with Care for some guitar-shopping. Be back this evening. Don't wait up._

Well, at least he had one thing less to worry about. For all that Enzo made a kick-ass coffee, he really had no idea what cooking even meant. Damon had been the one in charge of cooking every single meal for the two of them and as much as he enjoyed cooking, it was a relief not having to think about feeding his friend for at least one day.

Leaning against the kitchen counter, Damon ate his yogurt in the calm silence of the morning. Alaric hadn't specified a time for him to go to the studio, so Damon decided there was no need to rush. He didn't particularly look forward to meeting with the band manager to discuss the song he had insisted on playing the day before.

In hindsight, Damon realized that playing that particular song on that particular day had been an extraordinarily bad idea. He knew Enzo and the others had guessed what the song was about as soon as they'd read the lyrics; Alaric had looked suspicious from the second Damon had asked to play a new song Ric had known nothing about. Stefan had probably been the only one not to understand what was happening – although Damon couldn't even be sure of that.

Elena's reaction to hearing him sing had been telling to say the least. He didn't doubt she knew that the song had been meant for her, though it would have been preferable for her to hear it at another time.

Damon swallowed the last of the yogurt and licked the spoon clean. He tossed the spoon in the sink – the metallic clang incredibly loud in the empty room – before throwing away the empty cup of yogurt with a toss that would have made a professional basketball player envious.

After that, Damon opened the fridge again and grabbed a bottle of water. He drank straight from the bottle, delighted by the fact that Enzo wasn't there to tell him to use a bloody glass, dammit.

Done with his breakfast, Damon padded back into his bedroom and made a beeline for the bathroom, shedding his clothes as he walked. He stepped into the shower, the water just hot enough to relax his muscles without scalding him. He smiled at the thought that if he wanted to, he could spend an entire hour in the shower; no need to save hot water.

He washed his body and spent extra time massaging shampoo and conditioner in his hair, eyes closed and water pelting his face. As his body relaxed, surrounded by the hot mist created by the temperature of his shower, his mind went back to the night before.

The kiss he'd given Elena to seal their deal had quickly led to a passionate make-out session in the open – thankfully the park they'd wandered in had been a poorly frequented one. If he concentrated, he could still feel her tongue sliding against his, her hands grasping at his shirt, her soft hair sliding through his fingers as he cradled her head.

The feel of her lips against his had been a pleasantly welcomed one. It'd been different from the night they had slept together. Then had been all about devouring each other as quickly as possible, taking advantage of what they thought was going to be their only time together. This time, they both knew that that was just the beginning.

He remembered how he had gently tilted her head to the side, slanted his mouth over hers to deepen the kiss and Elena had released this soft little moan in his mouth. And Damon had suddenly become aware of all the possibilities in that little moan. He had realized that he didn't have to greedily swallow down that moan and store it in his memory, he could savor it instead. He could make Elena moan like that again. He could kiss every square inch of her body and make his every sigh, moan and whimper tumbling down her lips.

Damon smiled blissfully at the mere thought.

He finished showering and quickly patted himself dry with a towel before knotting it around his waist. Stopping by the sink, he ran a hand over his cheek. Usually he shaved every morning, but today he felt up for a slight change in his routine. He turned his head this way and that, observing his reflection in the mirror. A quick trim would be enough to turn his beard into a fashionable scruff.

He opened the cabinet above the sink and grabbed his razor. He made quick work of his beard and washed his face to remove any residual hair from his trimming.

Done with his beard, Damon stepped out of the bathroom and walked over to his drawers. He threw aside the towel around his waist and slid on a pair of black and blue boxers. From his closet, he selected his favorite pair of dark-washed blue jeans, the ones Bonnie said hung indecently low on his hips.

When he had to reach for a shirt, he paused.

For the past few days – courtesy of old insecurities rearing their ugly heads – he had worn exclusively long-sleeved shirts. That morning, though, he felt considerably better. He glanced at the tattoo that took up his whole left arm, weighing whether he felt confident enough to walk outside with it in plain sight. For all that he was proud of his ink, and on the good days gladly accepted when people complimented him for it, sometimes the attention was unwanted as it made him feel too exposed.

He remembered how Elena's fingers had traced the tattoo that first night they spent together. Her touch had been gentle, so gentle in fact, that he'd barely felt it – probably the only reason why he hadn't recoiled at the sudden touch. Her eyes too had travelled the length of his arm with something tender and awed in them.

He kept Elena's eyes in his mind as he grabbed a black sleeveless shirt and put it on. Before he could let his insecurities grow, he rummaged in the second drawer of his nightstand and pulled out a tube of sunscreen. He squirted a generous amount on his left arm and carefully massaged it all over his tattoo to protect it from the sun once in the streets.

He had to stretch a little to slather the sunscreen on the black feathers that peeked out of the shirt and curved on his shoulders, but craning his neck and watching his reflection in the closet mirror, he made sure to cover every part of the tattoo that would be exposed to the sun.

As he washed his hands in the bathroom, Damon kept telling himself that everything was going to be fine. He would go the studio and talk with Ric; that was it. Alaric had already seen his tattoos and Damon knew that the manager already knew something about them and the scars underneath the ink; not enough to piece together the entire story, but enough to get a pretty good picture of it.

"No backing out now." He told himself in the mirror.

Before going out, he made a rapid tour of the apartment to check that every light was turned off and every window was closed. Grabbing keys and wallet, he was out.

The first steps outside felt exhausting. He felt as though every person – every man, woman and child – could somehow spot the scars hidden by his tattoo. He knew they couldn't, that nobody could actually see anything besides the obvious tattoo, but the feeling remained. It was horrible and it made his skin crawl.

The more he walked, however, the more at ease he felt. By the time he reached the door to the studio, he felt his normal self again.

"Hey, Ric." He smiled an easy smile seeing the older man.

"Damon! I wasn't expecting you so early in the morning." Ric pulled him in for a quick one-armed hug.

"Yeah, I woke up early and thought I would just get this over with."

"We just want to ask you a couple of questions about the song, nothing more." Alaric reassured him, leading Damon to the room where Marcel was already waiting for them. "We're just curious and you're the only one who can tell us anything about the song."

Ric opened the door and ushered Damon inside before following him, softly closing the door. Marcel looked up when they entered the room. He stood up to greet Damon with a professional handshake.

"Glad you could join us, Damon." He said. "I've been looking forward to discussing your new song since the moment you proposed it to us."

Damon smiled a tight-lipped smile. He didn't exactly share Marcel's trepidation. The mere thought of discussing any of his songs with someone he didn't really know made him uncomfortable. Marcel, like many other people, treated songs as just a cluster of words put together with music and rhythm in mind. He was excellent at what he did, but the way he went about his job was clinical.

He didn't share Damon's unadulterated passion for music. Or if he did, he was damn good at hiding it.

Damon's music was so much more than words and notes. Each song he wrote was personal, a part of him that he consciously chose to share with others the only way he knew how. Asking him to dissect his lyrics or describe the thought process behind each word equaled asking him to lay his heart on the table for all to see.

Damon sat down with a bone-weary sigh. He didn't know how he was going to make it through this meeting without throwing up.

"Alright, I think we're good to go, right?" Marcel turned toward Alaric.

Ric simply raised his hand in a be-my-guest kind of way.

"Well then, first of all the song has great potential." Marcel was all business. "Great music, lyrics easy to remember and sing along to, quite catchy. I can honestly see it becoming a hit in no time if we were to release it."

Damon didn't miss the way Marcel subtly stressed the 'if'.

"Now, we can't insert it in the album we have to send to Ms. Fell. For one, we already have all the tracks we need; for two, its genre is too different from all the other songs already in the album. If this was your second or third album, we could pull something like this off, but since it isn't…"

Damon simply stared at Marcel, absorbing his words without really reacting to them. Damon already knew what he wanted to do with his song, but he still wanted to hear what the two men in front of him thought he should do. He didn't know much about Marcel, and believed this would be the perfect occasion to figure out something more about the way the man thought.

"I would suggest playing this safe." Marcel went on. "We could either record the song and release it only if necessary, like if you suddenly found yourself in a tough spot. Or we could tweak it a bit, make it a more "The Nobodies" song and maybe try to convince Ms. Fell to attach it as a bonus track for a special edition of the album if it is well received by the public."

Damon frowned at this last proposal. The idea of modifying a song he'd written for commercial purposes sickened him. He was part of a band that was about to hit the music market and he knew that publicity and sound business choices were extremely important at the moment, but he didn't write songs with money in mind.

Damon wanted to be successful so that his music could reach every corner of the world, not because he wanted to be rich. That had never been in his plans.

"There is another alternative." Ric intervened, knowing how Damon felt about editing his songs without sound reason. "We could record it and release it as a single after the album. We could use it as a way to, let's say, test the waters. That way we could see whether The Nobodies could potentially branch out in different genres."

"Would it entail modifying the song?" Damon wanted to know.

"Absolutely not. The song would remain as it is unless you said otherwise." Ric reassured him with no hesitation. "As we agreed in our contract, you're the one who has the last word in every matter pertaining to your songs."

Damon nodded to himself. Alaric's alternative was the one he felt more comfortable with other than being the smartest choice from a career standpoint. He still wasn't going to accept it.

Marcel shifted in his seat, clearly not appreciating how Alaric had dismissed his opinion without a second thought.

"I still think it's too early to think about branching out." He told the other man. "The fans we already have clearly love what The Nobodies do, I don't see why we should change the core of the band."

"You're thinking about this in the wrong terms, Marcel." Ric spoke patiently. "We don't want them to be stuck under a specific label with no wiggle room. We need to give them the possibility of expanding in more genres, making them a more all-round band."

"Mr. Saltzman…"

"Marcel, you're here to record the album and you're doing an excellent job. As the manager of this band, I'm in charge of advising Damon and the others on the best way to proceed and I can assure you that I'm very good at my job so why don't we all stick to what we're good at?"

Marcel seemed about ready to respond, though Alaric's assertiveness had left him reeling.

"As much as I'm enjoying this pissing contest, I really didn't come here to see who's the biggest badass between you two." Damon intervened before the two could go on. "Spoiler alert, I think Ric has you beaten here, Marcel." He said in a stage whisper. "Anyway, I already made my choice and I don't want to release the song."

Both men stared at him as if he had sprung another head. Damon rather enjoyed observing how the two of them tried and failed to wrap their minds around what he had just said. For a long moment, neither Alaric nor Marcel uttered a single syllable. Marcel was the first to regain some semblance of control.

"What do you mean you don't want the song to be released?"

Damon shrugged his shoulders and leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs and calmly looking at the recording expert. "I mean I don't want the public to hear this song. Not now, maybe not ever."

"So why did you ask us to listen to it?" Marcel's eyebrows were so low on his eyes that Damon wondered if he could still see through them.

"I wanted to hear your opinion." He said without missing a beat. "Now I know that if I ever decide to release the song, it will probably be a success."

Marcel opened his mouth to say something, closed it before making a sound, and then opened it again. "Is this a joke to you, Damon?"

"Marcel…" Alaric tried to intervene, hearing the undercurrent of annoyance in the younger man's voice.

"No, Mr. Saltzman." Marcel was having none of it. "When I was sent to help you with this album recording, I was told I'd be working with a young professional band willing to work hard to reach their objective. While I admit that they do work hard, this is insane."

"Marcel, please sit down or go outside to calm down before you say something you might regret."

"This meeting has been a waste of time, Mr. Saltzman." He continued, Alaric's words failing in cooling him down. "May I remind you that we really don't have time to waste? And by the way, what's with the two kids coming every morning to listen while the band records? Who are they, why are they here? How am I supposed to work without knowing what is going on around me?"

Alaric swiveled his chair and leaned forward, resting a hand on Marcel's heaving shoulder. "I need you to calm down and leave the room. Go outside, take a break and then when you come back we will talk about everything that's been happening, okay? I will deal with Damon."

Damon waved his hands to let Alaric know he was still in the room and could hear them clearly from where he was sitting. A stern glance from Ric was enough to make him drop the attitude. Marcel, in the meantime, was looking at Ric as if he couldn't quite understand why the man was not agreeing with him.

He must have realized he wouldn't make any progress remaining in the room and with a shake of his head and a muttered 'this is nuts', he left the room without looking back. Damon had half-expected him to slam the door on his way out, but Marcel made no sound as he left.

"I don't like him." Damon said once he was alone with Alaric.

"Doesn't matter, he's good at what he does." Alaric replied without moving from his seat.

"I still don't like him. I think he has a thing for Bonnie and I don't like it, at all."

"You didn't like me when we met so I'm going to ignore you on that front." Ric said in a no-nonsense voice. "And Bonnie is more than capable of taking care of herself. You just feel like being an asshole this morning."

Damon crossed his arms and slumped in his chair, definitely not pouting.

"Now, would you like to tell me what that whole thing was about?" Ric leaned closer, lowering his voice to a more sympathetic tone.

"I told you, I just wanted your opinion on the song, that's it." Damon stuck to his previous story.

Alaric stared pointedly at him, a skeptic eyebrow slowly moving upwards. "Is that why you totally choked when you noticed Elena looking at you?"

Damon stared wide-eyed at him.

"Yeah, I noticed." There was a small, smug smile on Alaric's lips. "I'm not blind. Just because I choose not to comment on what I see, doesn't mean I'm stupid. Listen, what you do with Elena is none of my business for now, but if this thing between the two of you becomes something serious I expect you to call me and let me know."

Damon cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter. He hadn't expected Alaric to call him out on what had happened. Enzo's lie had been easy to spot, but he'd thought that people would simply choose to ignore it and go on like nothing happened. A white lie every now and then didn't hurt anybody.

"We're not dating, if that's what you're asking. We're just having some fun."

Alaric spread his hands out. "Like I said, what the two of you are doing is none of my business, for now. It will become my business the moment you get serious with her." He looked Damon straight in the eye. "If the album goes well and I manage to book you a first national tour, you'll have everyone's eyes on you, and Elena. That's why I want you to give me a call if anything changes, that way I can at least prepare a PR statement to avoid any unpleasantness."

He hadn't thought about that. The album, a national tour, those things seemed still so far away that he never actually stopped to think about them. For the first time, he wondered whether he was ready to be the focus of everyone's attention, whether he ever would be. What about Elena? Was she aware of what she was getting herself into spending time with him?

He shrugged his shoulders. It didn't make any sense to worry about that sort of things. He and Elena would part ways once she left for college so there was no need to wonder what people would think about them.

The meeting after that was rather short. They discussed their progress with the recording of the album and estimated that if they kept going at this pace, they would probably be able to launch during the fall. At that point, they would let the public tell them when it was time to release maybe a couple of singles or if they needed to reassess their strategy and change tactic.

Alaric parted ways with him with a promise that he would not let Marcel send the part of the song he had recorded to Meredith. Damon nodded his thanks and left the studio feeling considerably lighter than before.

Feeling like eating Thai food, Damon started to walk toward that little corner shop he'd noticed close to the studio. He still had some time to kill before it was actually a decent enough hour to eat so he figured he should think about what to do with the rest of the day.

With Caroline and Enzo busy guitar-shopping – something that could go on for hours on end – his options were severely limited. He was thinking about calling Bonnie and asking her to come over to his place so they could binge-watch Game of Thrones for the fourth time as they waited for the new season to come out, but he remembered that on her few free days she liked to go visit her Grams.

He could go to Saint Joseph's and see if Kieran needed help with anything, but he didn't really feel like spending the day inside. He wanted to walk and soak up the sun since he'd gone through the trouble of slathering sunscreen on his tattoos.

He pulled out his phone and scrolled through the contact list, looking for someone to call. When Elena's name appeared on his screen, he realized that they had yet to make plans to meet. He hit the button to start the call and waited for her to pick up.

" _Hello?"_

"Am I catching you at a bad time?" He asked. She sounded a bit distracted.

" _Ah, I'm a bit busy but if you can make it quick I can make it work."_

"Damn, here I was thinking I could introduce you to the joys of phone sex." He joked in a dejected voice. He heard Elena stifle a laugh on the other side of the line.

" _I am sure you'll figure out a way to make it happen one way or another."_ She teased him.

Damon stopped walking and raised an eyebrow and her response. Most people would have scolded him for his blunt joking, but Elena seemed to understand his particular brand of inopportune humor.

"Duly noted. I am going to pen you in for a phone sex session as soon as I get home." He smirked at the little gasp he heard. Yep, he still got it. "Anyway, are you free this afternoon? Want to meet up?"

Elena cleared her throat before answering. _"Sorry, but I can't."_

Damon noted that she sounded genuinely regretful.

" _But I'm free this evening. You could come pick me up and we could go…uh…I just realized I have no idea where people go here in Boston."_

Damon released a low chuckle. "That's what you got me for. Are you still at Kieran's place?"

" _No, I'm actually at work. I can give you the address. Do you have something to write it on?"_

"No, but go for it. I've got a good memory."

Elena told him where to pick her up – he didn't know exactly where the place was but he knew the area so he was confident he could get there with minimal problems – and asked him to be there around 7.

Knowing he would meet with Elena in the evening made Damon feel better than he had all morning. He briefly considered going home and swapping the sleeveless t-shirt for a long-sleeved one before going to pick her up, but he reminded himself that she had already seen him completely naked so there was no point in covering himself up.

That being said, he still had to figure out what to do with his afternoon. Suddenly, an idea struck him; he could call Stefan and spend time with his brother. He had an entire afternoon free and that would be the perfect way to occupy it. He could take the second step on his journey to get to know his brother.

He scrolled through his contacts list, scowling when he realized that he didn't have Stefan's number. He shoot a quick message to Caroline, hoping she wasn't too busy to see it. A minute later, she'd texted him his brother's number. Damon saved it immediately and then called Stefan. The phone rang three times before his brother's voice reached his ears.

" _Who is this?"_

"Hey Stefan, it's me, Damon." He said. "I asked Caroline for your number, hope you don't mind."

" _Hi, Damon!"_ Stefan's voice changed from slightly suspicious to excited in one second flat. _"I don't mind really, I should have actually given it to you myself. With everything that's happened it must have slipped my mind. Anyway, what's up?"_

Now that he had to ask his brother to meet up, Damon felt uncharacteristically unsure of himself. "Nothing, I just wanted to ask if you were free this afternoon."

There was a brief pause on the other side of the line. _"I'm totally free. Caroline had asked if I wanted to hang out with her and Enzo, but I really didn't want to intrude on her free time and Elena's working so…"_

"Great. So you want to meet up?" Damon mentally patted himself on the back for how far he'd come in the conversation.

" _I'd love to."_ Stefan sounded more and more excited.

"Perfect. I was thinking maybe we could go on the Freedom Trail so you could see a bit of what Boston has to offer." It was a typical tourist thing to do but Damon figured he could at least show the city to his brother.

" _Yeah, that would be cool."_

"Alright then, is it okay if we meet at let's say 3 at the Boston Common? You know how to get there?"

Stefan hummed pensively before answering. _"Not really but I can find the place, don't worry. I'll be there at 3."_

After exchanging a couple of niceties, Damon hung up and blew out a relieved breath. He nodded to himself, satisfied with the way he had handled things. Now that he had the whole day planned out, he walked to the little Thai joint with a spring in his steps.

After lunch, he took his time to reach the Boston Common, mentally preparing himself to the afternoon of sharing he had in front of him. He was determined to open up to his brother, even though he knew he had to take things slow. He was nowhere near ready to share every detail of his past, but there were topics that were relatively safe. He just needed to find a way to direct the conversation toward them.

When he got to the Boston Common, he saw Stefan already waiting for him. He was sitting on the round marble bench in front of the Visitor Information.

"Stefan!" He called out, raising his tattooed arm in greeting.

His brother turned his head in his direction and stood up to greet him. As Damon had already predicted, Stefan's eyes fell on the tattoo sleeve covering his arm. Damon had prepared himself for the uncomfortable feeling of being stared at, but to his surprise, he actually didn't mind too much. Stefan merely glanced at the tattoo before looking at him.

"Cool tattoo. Didn't know you had one."

It was just an innocent observation, which worked wonders to help Damon relax.

"Now you know." He answered with a smile. "Shall we begin?" He nodded to the red and silver tasseled trail leading them to the left through the Boston Common.

Stefan inclined his head and made a sweeping gesture with his arm. "Lead the way."

The two brothers walked side by side through the crowded streets of Boston, tourists surrounding them on all sides. Damon did his best to be a good guide of the city and pointed out curious places and monuments as they walked, much like he'd done for Elena when they'd first met. He was no tour guide but he did know a couple of things about the city in which he lived.

They stopped at a visitor center halfway through the trail, as Stefan wanted to eat something and go to the bathroom. Back on the trail, they passed by Paul Revere's house and Copp's Hill Burying Ground. When they started to cross Charlestown Bridge, Stefan tapped his brother on shoulder.

"Where to next?"

Damon pointed somewhere to the right. "Right there, to see the USS Constitution. We didn't buy tickets so we can't exactly see it but we should be able to catch a glimpse of it from outside."

The two walked a couple of minutes in silence, before Stefan spoke up again.

"So, did you only want to show me the city or did you want to do something else?" He asked, knowing his brother hadn't asked him to meet just so he could play tour guide for the afternoon.

Damon glanced at his brother. "You caught me." He admitted. "I was actually hoping we could talk about some stuff, you know."

Stefan nodded eagerly. "Yeah, of course. We can talk about anything you want."

Damon chewed his lower lip, thinking about what to ask so that he could steer the conversation where he wanted. After a bit of thinking, he found out something to ask that would do just that and had the bonus of being something he was actually curious about.

"Why don't you tell me how you and Elena met?"

If Stefan was taken aback by the sudden curiosity, he didn't show it. He immediately launched himself into the story of how he met Elena Gilbert the first day of kindergarten. He recalled with a smile how he had been bawling his eyes out – already missing home after five minutes – and how Elena had planted herself in front of him and made hers the mission of making him stop crying.

Soon, the two of them had started spending every minute together and the teachers had quickly realized that there was no dividing them. Before they even realized it, Stefan and Elena had become best friends and had spent together every day from kindergarten to elementary school and up to high school.

"What about you?"

Damon frowned at his brother. "How I met Elena? I think you already know that."

Stefan snorted a laugh and bumped his shoulder against his brother's. "How you met Enzo and the others."

Damon reminded himself that he'd actually gone out of his way to steer the conversation in that direction. This was the purpose of the outing; to share something about himself with his brother. It was a lot easier said than done.

"We met at the orphanage. You know the one."

"Baby Jesus' Handmaidens?" Stefan asked for confirmation.

Damon nodded and kept on talking. "I was eight years old the first time Father Kieran took me there. He was the founder of the orphanage and at the time, he spent a lot of time there to see that things were done the right way. One day, he decided to take me with him."

The brothers reached the end of Charlestown Bridge and waited at a stoplight for the sign to cross the street. As soon as the green light appeared, they moved with the crowd in direction of the naval yard where the USS Constitution was moored.

"When I met Enzo, he had been living there since the founding of the orphanage a couple of years before. Bonnie arrived six months later and a year and two months after her, it was Caroline's turn."

Stefan glanced at his brother as he spoke. Damon's eyes had a faraway look as he narrated how he met his best friends with the same voice one would use to talk about the wheatear. Stefan had the feeling that his brother was doing his best to force himself to speak about his past. It was obviously difficult for him, and Stefan appreciated the gesture even more because of that.

"We kind of just clicked. Enzo was the only one my age so we gravitated toward each other. Bonnie and Caroline were the only two girls for a while, believe it or not, so they tended to stick together. I honestly don't know how we started to hang out together, we just did. I sure am glad we did."

Stefan nodded absentmindedly, wondering whether or not to ask the question that was on the tip of his tongue. In the end, he decided to risk pushing Damon a little bit farther.

"But why were you in an orphanage? You said your father died a couple of years ago so I don't understand why you would spend your time in an orphanage or with Father Kieran for all that matters."

Damon looked straight ahead. He knew Stefan was going to ask that question sooner or later, he'd even prepared for it, but it was only then that he realized he wasn't ready at all. He didn't think he could manage to tell Stefan everything that had happened with Giuseppe, he didn't even want to go there. But he'd asked Stefan out for a reason; he couldn't back down right now.

"Do you have a father, Stefan?"

Stefan looked taken aback. "Uh, yeah."

"What's his name?" Damon continued with his questions.

"Julian, why?"

Damon licked his lips and turned to look at his brother. "What's he like? Is he a good father?"

"He is, yes."

Damon nodded to himself. "Did he help you with your homework? Did he play with you, spend time with you and things like that?"

Stefan frowned, thoroughly confused. "I don't understand where you're going with this. Yes, my father spent time with me and he did his best to help me and support me. When I told him that I wanted to study architecture, he immediately said that if that was what I wanted then he was okay with it, that if I found out architecture wasn't for me that was okay too. The important thing was that I found out what I really wanted to do in life, what made me really happy."

Damon smiled bitterly at his words. "Sounds like he's a great father." He said in a small voice.

The two stopped near the naval yard where the USS Constitution was moored. Damon leaned on the railing curtailing the area and looked at the impressive ship he could glimpse in the distance.

"Giuseppe was nothing like that, Stefan." He started, turning his back to the railing and crossing his arms. "When I said he wasn't much of a father I wasn't lying. There was no playing in my house, no spending time together, no supporting me in my decisions. Every time he opened his mouth it was to make it clear that I was nothing but a disappointment and that I would never amount to anything in life."

Damon spoke quickly, spitting out everything he needed to say without almost taking a breath. He was editing the story a bit, but he needed to Stefan to stop looking at his life through rose-tinted glasses.

"You asked how I ended up spending time with Kieran. Well, let's just say that when you have a father like mine, you find any and all excuses to stay out of the house as much as you can. Stumbling into Kieran was the best thing that ever happened to me."

"What about Mom?" Stefan asked quietly in a hoarse voice.

Damon spared him a glance before answering. "She received much the same treatment until the day she couldn't stand it anymore. She took you and she left."

"But why did she leave you?"

"I don't know Stefan!" He snapped at his brother, rounding on him. "You're the one who spent the last eighteen years with her so why don't _you_ tell _me_ why she left with only one of her sons?"

Stefan couldn't even meet his eyes. "She never mentioned you."

Damon snorted a bitter laugh, turning to look at the water in the harbor turning a flaming red as the sun began setting.

"Well that answers my question, doesn't it?"

Stefan remained silent.

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 **I leave you with just one tiny spoiler for next chapter: lots and lots of Delena goodness ;)**

 **As always, don't forget to tell me what you thought of the chapter and to follow and favorite if you like the story!**


	17. More Than a Feeling

**AN: here I am with a new chapter! It took longer than I would have liked, but I also wrote a longer chapter with a nice extra at the end so I hope you'll forgive me!**

 **Thank you so much for your patience and for sticking with me through my horrible posting schedule!**

 **I have to warn you that this chapter is unbetad as I wanted to post it as soon as I was done writing it. I will correct it as soon as my lovely beta, delena21051, send it back to me!**

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Chapter 16 - More Than a Feeling

Elena was humming quietly to herself as she stacked together the papers over which she and Jason had worked all afternoon. When her new boss had mentioned renovating the place, she thought he meant stacking new CDs, repainting over the horrible yellowish color of the walls, and maybe even start selling musical instruments. Turned out, Jason wanted to completely turn the place around.

He had inherited the place from an uncle who'd owned the music shop for something like twenty years. Partly because he didn't want to see the shop be sold and partly because he had no other future plans, Jason had decided to run the place. He had money saved and together with the discreet sum left to him by his late uncle, he had started to make plans to turn the place into a real music shop that would attract new clients. Elena had just been the cheap help he'd been looking for so that he could start.

"As soon as you're done there, you can go. I'll close down the place today."

Elena turned toward Jason as he came out the back. "Great!" She glanced at the watch on her wrist and smiled. Damon would arrive any moment now.

"Do you have somewhere to be?"

She looked up with wide eyes and opened her mouth, no sound coming out of it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound accusing," Jason reassured her, hands up in front of him. "It's just, it's the fifth time that I've seen you looking at your watch in the last 30 minutes so…"

Elena huffed a nervous laughter, her shoulders dropping in a more relaxed stance now that she wasn't afraid of getting in trouble with her boss on her very first day at work.

"I didn't realize I was doing it." She said with an apologetic smile. "I don't want you to think that I want to leave as soon as I can. I truly loved working here today, and I'd be more than happy to spend every day of the week here. Of course, I know I can't, you were very clear when you offered me this job which I'm very grateful for, by the way…"

"Elena, you don't need to apologize." Jason stopped her before she could keep on babbling. "It was just an observation."

Elena blushed and lowered her eyes, shuffling papers around to avoid looking at him. "Sorry, that happens when I'm nervous. Sometimes."

"So," he said, after a moment of silence. "Do you have somewhere to be?"

"Ah, I'm meeting with someone." Elena looked at her watch again; it was five after seven. "In fact he should be here already. Oh! There he is." Elena pointed at him, her smile vanishing when he walked outside her line of vision.

"Didn't you tell him where to meet you?" Jason was leaning on the counter next to her.

"I did but I think he didn't even notice there was a shop here." She murmured. "Either that or his memory is not as good as he claims it to be."

"You better go after him before he starts wondering if you gave him the wrong address on purpose."

Elena chewed on her lower lip and looked down at all the papers still cluttering the counter. She wanted nothing more than run outside to Damon, but she couldn't just ditch her new boss like that.

"Are you sure? I can just call him and tell him I'll be off from work in five minutes."

Jason batted away her suggestion with a strict flick of his wrist. "Nah, don't worry. You did a great job today; I can finish here without your help. Go meet your friend and tomorrow I'll text you when I want you here at the shop, okay?"

Elena smiled brightly at her new boss before turning and going in the back to get her things, all the while thanking Jason. She felt a nervous sort of excitement take a hold of her body at the thought of spending the night with Damon. When he'd called her that morning to ask her if she was free in the afternoon, Elena had mentally cursed her new job for keeping her away from him. Thankfully, Damon had seemed more than okay with seeing each other in the evening.

She slung the shoulder strap of her bag over her shoulder and turned to leave the backroom. She took one step before stopping when a sudden thought struck her; she was meeting with Damon and she had no idea whether she was even presentable. She rummaged through her bag, looking for the portable mirror she knew was somewhere in there.

She took a look at herself, clicking her tongue in disapproval at the state of her hair. Keeping her eyes trained on her reflection, she used her free hand to pull out the small brush she kept in her bag in case of emergency, i.e. whenever her hair decided to take on a life of its own and just do whatever it wanted.

Hair finally in place with a couple of quick and practiced brush strokes, Elena hummed in approval. If worst came to pass, she could just pull her hair back in a ponytail.

Satisfied with her appearance, Elena left the back of the shop and practically flew in the streets throwing another thank you over her shoulders as she passed; maybe it was her imagination, but she could swear she heard Jason chuckling at her.

In the streets, she looked around in search of Damon. She was about to pull out her phone to call him when she caught a glimpse of dark hair and pale skin on the other side of the road.

"Damon!" She called, waving her arm when he turned toward her.

She stayed where she was as he made his way to her. She suddenly wondered how she was supposed to greet him. Was she supposed to kiss him or was that something only a girlfriend could do? They were technically dating even if their relationship already had an expiration date, but maybe Damon wouldn't appreciate the gesture; he had said he'd never had a relationship before.

Damon stopped in front of her and smiled down at her. He leaned forward a bit and Elena tilted her head up, sure he was going to kiss her. At the last moment he stopped, a minute frown appearing on his brow; he looked unsure as if he didn't know what he was supposed to do.

They stayed like that for a moment, Elena looking up at him with a slightly nervous smile and Damon staring at her as if asking for help because he was stuck and didn't know how to move on from his attempt at greeting her in a normal way.

Elena solved the situation by standing on her tiptoes and pressing a lingering kiss to the corner of Damon's mouth, because she'd been expecting his lips on hers when he had started to lean down only to leave her hanging so a little teasing was only fair.

"I saw you passing by the shop without stopping. I thought you were supposed to have a great memory."

Damon blinked rapidly a couple of times before focusing his eyes on hers. "I do have a great memory, thank you very much. How was I supposed to know the shop was hidden away down there?" He nodded at the music shop he'd noticed when walking up to her.

"All I hear are excuses. Just admit you didn't remember where we had to meet." She kept teasing him, fighting to keep a straight face.

Damon opened his mouth to defend himself before narrowing his eyes at her. "You little minx."

Despite how gruff he'd sounded when grumbling those words, they didn't really hold any malice. Still, Elena's eyes widened when Damon turned and started walking away. She took a quick step forward, afraid she had misjudged the situation and teased him too much too soon.

"Wait! I didn't mean—"

Damon's hand closing around hers, gently pulling her closer to him, had her words dying in her throat. She followed Damon as he kept walking, barely aware of where they were even going. Elena didn't understand how the simple act of holding hands could affect her this much; she'd held hands with her previous boyfriends and she hadn't even spared a thought those times.

Now, it felt like her entire world had shrunk to Damon's skin touching hers. His hand was warm around her own, and slightly sweaty – though that could have been her. She wiggled her fingers and Damon adjusted his hold without skipping a beat, the slightly rough skin of his fingertips skimming the side of her hand.

They reached Damon's car – the beautiful baby-blue Camaro Elena would die to drive at least once – and he opened the door for her, bowing with a flourish, charming smirk in place. She tried to hide her smile at his antics as she sat down, immediately missing the warmth of his touch when he let go of her hands to close the door and walk around the car to driver's seat.

"So, where are you taking me?" Elena asked once Damon was seated next to her, proud of how steady her voice sounded.

"That depends."

"On what?" She frowned.

Damon half turned in his seat to look at her, his eyes piercing hers with their intensity. "What did you mean exactly when you said that we'd be 'informal dating'?" He used his fingers to make the inverted commas.

She took a moment to answer. Damon looked completely serious and the genuine confusion mixed with curiosity that she felt from him, told her that she needed to be as clear as possible to avoid future problems. Elena mentally berated herself for not making sure he knew exactly what she was offering the night before; he'd already told her how limited his experience was when it came to relationship, of course he had no idea what their agreement meant in practical terms.

"I meant that, for all intents and purposes, we'd behave like we were actually dating." She refrained from using terms like 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend' as she suspected those would be the words that would make him run for the hills. "You know, the usual things people do like going to the movies, eating together and generally just spending time together. Of course, we wouldn't have to worry about the three dates rule, we've already moved past that. Then, when the time comes, we just go our separate ways knowing that we'll still be good friends."

Damon stared at her for a long moment before nodding to himself, apparently reassured by her explanation.

"Then Plan A it is."

Elena didn't ask what Plan B was, she merely buckled her belt as Damon turned the key into the ignition and relaxed into the seat. It comforted her somehow, the fact that he'd already planned their night together to the point of thinking about multiple scenarios depending on her answer. Damon might think he was no boyfriend material, but he was already showing her more respect than either of her ex-boyfriends had ever thought to show.

"So what did you do today with your day off?" She asked instead.

"Not much." He answered steering the car in a right turn so smooth she barely felt it. "Went to speak with Ric in the morning and met with Stefan in the afternoon."

Elena straightened in her seat at his admission, and smiled softly. "I'm glad you two are spending some time together."

"I don't think Stefan sees it that way right now."

She frowned at his words, worry pooling low in her stomach at the resignation in his voice. "Why what happened?"

Damon broke gently, stopping the car at a red light. He stared straight ahead, the lines on his face tight. "We talked a bit about our pasts and ended up stepping into the minefield that is talking about Lily."

He spoke in dry, clipped words that had her wincing with their bitterness. Elena refused to speak the usual platitudes of 'things will get better with time' or 'I'm sure Stefan understands, don't worry about it'. The truth was that things would likely never get easier. How could they? For whatever reason, Lily had abandoned one son in favor of the other. Nothing could change that reality.

The light turned green and Damon slid the car into 'drive', pushing them onwards toward whatever their destination was.

The silence was stretching for too long and Elena didn't want to ruin their night so early on.

"You shouldn't have to tiptoe around your past when you speak with Stefan." She opted to be as direct as possible to avoid any misunderstanding. "You should be allowed to speak your mind; Stefan will just have to deal with things on his own. He was the one who came looking for you, right?"

She saw a dark eyebrow climb toward Damon's hairline. "Is that so?"

He gazed intently at her, taking advantage of the city's traffic that had forced him to stop the car. Elena didn't say anything, simply holding his gaze and hoping he could see how serious she was being. She had the feeling that Damon was the kind of man who kept everything close to his chest, always measuring his words, careful in never saying anything that could reveal too much about what he felt and thought.

She knew he wasn't afraid of pushing people's buttons, and he had confidence to sell – even if she was starting to think that maybe it was all just a mask he was used to wearing – but she saw a fragility in him, a vulnerability that he worked hard to hide and that made her heart clench painfully. She wanted him to know that he was safe with her, that she would take his secrets to the grave if he chose to entrust them to her.

Maybe Damon realized that, because he hummed quietly to himself and returned his eyes to the road. Elena wasn't finished though, and in a move that surprised her as much as it surprised Damon, she laid a hand on his knee. She felt his leg twitch under her palm, but he didn't shy away from her touch.

"If you ever need to talk with someone who isn't Stefan, or if you just want someone to listen to you, I'll be there for you. I promise."

He threw her a quick glance out of the corner of his eye. "What if you don't like what I have to say?"

Elena swallowed around the knot that had formed in her throat at the words he'd said in such a quiet voice. "That'd be my problem, not yours. It doesn't matter whether I like what you have to say or not, because this isn't about me; it's about you. So just say what you feel like saying and let me deal with the rest."

Damon snorted a bitter laugh. "You make it sound easy."

"It's not, but hey, that's why you have me as a friend." She tried to inject a little humor to lighten the serious atmosphere in the car.

She gave one last squeeze to his knee and let go, settling back in her seat and looking out of the window. She hoped she had managed to get her message across and that Damon would remember it in the future. She understood his need to protect himself – maybe not completely because she was used to confiding in people much more freely – but she also worried that he might be closing himself off to anyone. Keep everyone away, and no one will ever hurt you, right?

The rest of the car drive was spent in silence, save for the occasional comment made by one of them. Elena was okay with that. After the intense conversation they'd had, they both needed a bit of time to go back to the relaxed atmosphere at the beginning of their night.

Elena was absentmindedly gazing at the city passing by them, when Damon slowed down and turned right, steering the car toward what looked like Boston's commercial harbor. She frowned as she took in the rows and rows of old warehouses rising in every direction.

"Where are we going?"

"Don't worry, I'm not taking you to an isolated spot to kill you." Damon chuckled lightly.

"Could have fooled me." She murmured eyeing the tall buildings with distrust. The dying light of the sun really didn't help.

"I promise you're going to like the place where I'm taking you." He said, resting his right hand on top of hers on her thigh.

Elena wasn't so sure of that, but Damon's warm hand on hers reassured her a bit. She skimmed her thumb over the side of his hand, taking advantage of their closeness to savor the physical contact.

They finally stopped in the parking lot of what was definitely an abandoned warehouse; either that or it had been a factory at some point, judging by the tall windows looking down at them like dark, enormous empty eyes. Elena couldn't suppress the shiver running up her spine at the sight. The air was completely still around them, the only sound breaking the silence was the soft rolling of waves not too far from where they stood. Definitely close to harbor, then.

Damon exited the car and opened the trunk, pulling out a white and blue cooler and a paper bag.

"What's that?" She asked, walking closer to him.

Damon closed the trunk with a soft _clunk_. "Our dinner. I hope you like Chinese food and beer. Come on."

He started walking toward the rust-covered doors that led inside the warehouse. All Elena could do was follow after him, trusting that he knew what he was doing.

The inside of the warehouse was just as desolate as the outside. The vast floor was completely empty, the concrete pavement littered with old newspapers, what looked like empty folders and stacks of cardboard boxes here and there. The only light came from the classic factory windows that ran from one end of the building to the other.

Damon led her to an iron staircase to the right of the entrance – right up against the wall – that led to the second floor. On top of the stairs, he turned to the left and walked down a short corridor. As she followed behind him, Elena noticed that they passed by a heavy-looking sliding-door that seemed curiously new, its metal smooth and polished.

"Where does that door lead?"

Damon glanced at her above his shoulder. "Don't worry about that." He opened a door to his left at the end of the corridor and stepped inside. "We are here for this."

Elena peaked inside, curious as to what he wanted to show her. What she thought had been a room, turned out to be little more than a closet with only a ladder embedded in the wall that seemed to lead to the roof of the building.

Damon started climbed the ladder, opening the hatch at the top and letting the ever darkening light of the sun in.

"Alright." Elena murmured to herself, starting to climb the ladder.

When she reached the top, Damon offered her a hand to help her. She graciously accepted it, letting him heave her up on the roof. She expected him to let go of her, but he started walking toward the top left corner of the roof where she could see wooden crates piled against the waist-high brick-wall serving as a parapet.

"So what are we doing here?" She asked him with a smile, swinging their intertwined hands back and forth. She didn't miss the way his lips stretched into a small smile in an almost involuntary response.

"You'll see soon enough."

"Ah, you're playing the mystery card. I see what you're doing Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome."

He dropped the paper bag and the cooler by the crates. He tugged her hand in a quick move that sent her flush against his chest. His arms were quick to snake around her waist, holding her close to his body.

"I'm not that tall." He whispered a breath away from her lips before he leaned down and sealed their lips in a kiss.

It was the kiss she had been waiting for all evening and Elena had no intention of wasting it. Her hands, previously trapped between their bodies, moved quickly over Damon's chest feeling the way his muscles twitched beneath the thin fabric of his top. She felt his tongue trace her lower lip and lost no time in sucking it in her mouth, eliciting a low, rumbling moan from deep within his chest.

The kiss was shorter than what she would have liked; still, she couldn't hide her beaming smile when Damon pulled back and started trailing light kisses along the line of her jaw. It was incredible how a simple kiss could make her feel like her heart was banging against her ribcage, shouting to be let out. She couldn't help a full-body shiver she felt Damon nipping at her earlobe before pulling back to look at her.

"I should have done that as soon as I saw you earlier today." His voice was low and rough and it definitely did things to her body that she needed to ignore if she wanted to find out why he'd brought her to that rooftop.

"You should have." She agreed, leaning up to press a quick kiss to his lips. "Why didn't you?"

He closed his eyes and leaned into the soothing touch of her fingertips playing with the hair on the nape of his neck. "Momentary lapse in judgment. Won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't."

Elena brushed their noses together and pressed a last, lingering kiss to the underside of his jaw. Damon's eyes snapped open as she took a step back and looked around. She pretended not to notice the flash of surprise and uncertainty in his eyes; he'd better get used to it because she definitely wasn't going to stop showering him with little affectionate touches whenever she wanted.

"So what exactly are we doing here?"

She honestly had no idea why he would feel like bringing her here when they could have done something else. The view was spectacular, she couldn't deny that. The rooftop stood overviewing a large portion of Boston's harbor, boats coming and going even at that hour when the sun was nothing but a thin line on the horizon. The city lights were starting to blink into life everywhere, except for the buildings around them; it seemed like their warehouse was not the only abandoned one.

Elena felt Damon's hand settle on the small of her back as he came to stand by her side.

"We are here for that."

She looked in the direction he was pointing at and saw a small crowd gathering in an open space created by three buildings not too far from theirs. There seemed to be a roughly built stage in the middle of the yard and if Elena's eyes weren't deceiving her, the people gathering there were barbecuing and drinking beer and were those guys bringing music instruments on the stage?

"Who would organize a concert in this place?"

Damon laughed under his breath. "It's not exactly a concert. These people like to gather here to sing and dance and get drunk together while listening to some good music. It's not exactly legal and to be honest with you, the bands playing are more often than not quite bad. I almost had a heart-attack when I heard a guy literally massacre _Mr. Brightside_."

Elena shook her head. "So they just gather here and no one says anything about illegal concerts near the harbor?"

Damon shrugged his shoulders. "It's not like you'll find it advertised around the city, it's all word of mouth. And as you see, not a lot of people come here."

Elena heard him walk away and a moment later, the sound of a paper bag opening reached her ears. Damon came back to her and handed her a white box with chop sticks stuck to it. She took it with a smile and watched as he disappeared once again to come back with his portion of Chinese food and two beers.

"Shall we eat as they finish setting up?"

Elena opened her beer and clicked it with his. "Thank God you thought about buying some food. I'm starving." She popped a bite of chicken chow mei in her mouth. "How much do I owe you?"

Damon brought a hand to his heart. "It wounds me that you think I'd let you pay for our dinner." She smiled at his dramatics. "I thought this was supposed to be a date thing; you know, paying for food and stuff."

She tried to hide how giddy his response made her, turning instead to look at the people gathering around the stage.

When the 'concert' started, Elena had to agree with Damon's earlier statement; the bands playing weren't exactly good at what they were doing. They tended to play one or two songs each before leaving the stage to someone else. One out of four bands provided good entertainment, leaving Elena sad when they had to step down the stage to allow the next – probably – mediocre band to play.

They spent their time together eating and joking about this singer and that drum player and just generally making each other laugh as hard as they could. Elena claimed her victory when she managed to make Damon snort beer from his nose after a particularly witty comment on a guitarist who – from where they stood – seemed to be possessed by the devil what with the way he jumped and ran around the stage.

Damon was still trying to mop the beer that had dribbled all over his shirt when Elena grabbed his arm in tight grip and sucked in a breath.

"Oh my God." She whispered in excitement.

"What?"

She turned toward him with the brightest smile he'd ever seen. "This is my favorite song!"

He tilted his head to the side, listening. " _More Than a Feeling_? Seriously?" He asked in bafflement, watching as Elena set down her beer on the ledge and took a couple of steps back. "What are you doing?"

"The only thing one has to do when this song comes up." She stated seriously, waving at him to join her. "Air-banding."

Damon stared wide eyed at her she Elena brought a hand to her mouth as if she was holding a mic, and started to move her lips in sinc with the frankly terrible singer on stage. She accompanied her fake-singing with dramatic hand gestures and ridiculous dance moves to 'mime' the story told by the lyrics.

"Come on, Damon! Loosen up a little!" She said during a pause in the song.

In response, Damon pulled out his cellphone and held it up. "Oh no, I think I'm going to stay right where I am, filming this masterpiece."

Elena raised a defiant eyebrow and started making even more exaggerated moves as he recorded her.

When the guitar solo hit and Elena launched herself in the most enthusiastic air-guitar performance he was ever going to see, Damon's shoulders started shaking with barely-restrained laughter. He had to stop recording, the video shaking so badly it would be a miracle if Elena would still be visible.

Damon put the cellphone down next to Elena's beer bottle and stuck his hands in his jeans' pockets. He deliberated whether to join her in her dance, whether it was worth it to just shove away his pride and as she had said to him, loosen up a little. He looked at the way she was smiling unabashedly, bright-eyed and completely unconcerned by anyone's judgment. He envied how easily she could just let go and do what she wanted.

He wanted to be like her in that moment; free of judgment and uncaring of anyone's opinion of him. Damon knew Elena wouldn't judge him for behaving in such a silly way, nor would she tell anyone about it if he were to ask her not to. They would share this secret between them.

He moved before he could even think about it.

"Oooh." She hooted when she saw him take a step and plant himself next to her.

Damon smirked at her and rolled up nonexistent sleeves before joining Brad Delp as he sang of the girl he used to know slipping away. In that moment, alone with Elena on that dark rooftop with only the night sky to see them, he felt as though he was letting go of something he had been carrying around since he was a kid. He didn't know exactly what was happening, but he'd never felt lighter than in that moment.

The only other moment that came to his mind, was the day Father Kieran had thrust a guitar in his hands telling him to find a constructive way to let out what he was feeling.

When the next song came up, he didn't stop. He laughed with Elena as they danced like idiots, alternating between pretending to sing like their life depended on it and playing instruments with the most dramatic moves they could think of.

Damon couldn't believe how disappointed he felt when the first drop of rain hit him square in the nose. He and Elena ran to gather their things as a proper summer storm hit them in a flash, the people gathered in the small clearing between the warehouses unconsciously imitating them as they scrambled in all directions.

Elena climbed down the stairs as quickly as she could without breaking her neck since Damon was shielding her with his body to avoid getting the steps too slippery with water. Once she reached the ground, she stretched on her tiptoes to catch the paper bag with the leftover of their dinner, and the cooler that Damon was handing her.

"It's going to be a nightmare having to drive back to your apartment like this." She said once Damon was safely on the ground. "Do you have something in your trunk to dry yourself a bit? I can drive if you want and you can just, I don't know, try not to catch pneumonia?"

They were both wet but Damon was positively drenched. After the wonderful night he'd planned for them, the least she could do was offer to drive in his place.

"There's no need. I got this covered." He said, running his fingers through his hair to sweep it off his forehead. It ended sticking up in every direction.

"What do you mean?" Did he want to remain there until the storm passed?

"Come with me." He simply said, scooping up their things and walking down the hallway.

He stopped in front of the sliding door Elena had seen before. He grabbed the metal handle on it and pulled with all his weight. She couldn't help but admire the way the muscles in his arm bunched up. A sudden bolt of lightning, followed closely by a low rumble, briefly illuminated the space behind the door. It was too fast to really see anything, but Elena thought she'd caught the faint lines of pieces of furniture.

She made to take a step forward, but Damon loosely grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"Please, take your shoes off."

She frowned but did as he asked since he was doing the exact same thing. He preceded her inside, setting down the cooler by the door. She followed slowly, unsure where she was going in the semi-darkness – the only faint light in the room came from the two factory-windows that took up most of the wall in front of her.

Damon turned on a light and Elena stared open-mouthed at everything around her.

"Wow."

Elena looked around in awe at the loft she was standing in. It was modest in size, enough for one person at least. On the right there was a fully equipped modern kitchen with a counter on which to eat while on the left side – below a partial second floor supported by steel, black columns – there was a low, leather sofa facing a tv-set with wooden bookcases on both sides. Another wooden bookcase cut the space in two and acted as a sort of wall between the kitchen area and living-room. The light Damon had turned on was a lamp on a stand next to the central bookcase.

She couldn't exactly see the second floor from where she was, but she guessed it was where Damon slept since she couldn't see a bed on the ground floor. A winding staircase with wooden steps and a metal frame led to that part of the loft.

All the walls in the loft had been left natural, unpainted, revealing red bricks over which Damon had stuck a couple of paintings all in shades of gray with – she guessed – Boston's skyline. When she looked down, she understood why Damon had made her take off her shoes; the entirety of the floor was made of slick-looking wooden floorboards.

"Here."

Damon reappeared by her side and handed her a towel. She took it with a grateful smile and started to friction her hair.

"What is this place?"

"I guess you could call it my secret safe place." He ruffled his hair with a towel.

"But why do you have an apartment inside an abandoned warehouse? How did you even get the permits?"

"I kind of own the building." He said, almost sheepishly.

Elena stared at him in silence for a moment. "You own it?"

Damon sighed in defeat. "My father had a lot of money, like, _a lot_. When he died I refused to take over the company he owned, but I still got to inherit the majority of his properties. I had more money than I knew what to do with it, but when I went to live with Kieran I knew I needed a place where I could just stay in peace, a place where I knew no one could find me."

"But you brought me here." She said in a whisper, immediately grasping the enormity of what he'd just told her.

"I'm trusting that you won't go around telling people where this place is." His smile was unsure, brittle. He was taking a huge step forward in trusting her with his safe place. "The others know I have another place but they don't know where it is. I'd like to keep it that way."

Elena nodded mutely, not sure what she could say. He was trusting her with something incredibly important to him, something he hadn't trusted his closest friends with. Honestly, she felt out of her depth. Damon was always so closed off, but then he had these moments where he just let her see through him.

And suddenly, it clicked. In that moment, she felt the same mixture of emotions she felt whenever she heard him sing. Because Damon didn't say anything directly, with him it was all about reading between the lines. He was doing exactly what he did when he sang – he spoke to anyone willing to listen and understand – minus the music.

Elena walked up to him, filled to the brim with the need to reassure him that she did understand and that he could trust her.

Damon observed her as her hands came up to take the towel from his hands and put it on a table with hers, out of the way. She fiddled with the hem of his shirt, thumbs brushing against the skin underneath in a move that made him shiver. She stepped even closer, her body now flush to his. She felt the warmth radiating from him and her heart started beating faster and faster.

He brought his hands to rest lightly on her hips, his breath quickening in anticipation. He was well aware of the way Elena's nipples had tightened against his own chest, and he was more than ready to take things to the next step; the growing bulge in his pants made it clear what his intentions were.

"I admit to having ulterior motives in bringing you here." He breathed against her lips, gazing into her eyes. Elena's pupils were so dilated, he could barely see a trace of brown in her eyes. "I would like you to stay the night. If that's not something you're interested in, you better tell me now."

"I was hoping you would ask me to stay."

Damon sighed in relief as he closed the distance between them. Unlike their previous kisses, this one was slow and deep, their lips molding perfectly one to the other. They kept the pace slow, and Damon was surprised by the fact that he didn't want things to become rough and heated like the previous time they'd slept together.

After the night they had spent together, after the way she had made him feel so free and unburdened, he wanted to repay her.

She had given him something precious – some of the light he'd seen in her since the start – and he needed to thank her. This was the one sure way he knew and understood to give her back some of what she had so freely given to him.

He broke the kiss and led her up the winding staircase, hands intertwined in a way that felt so achingly right it scared him.

The second floor was basically his bedroom and nothing more. The bed there was simply a king sized mattress – with pillows covering it – resting on the floor creating what looked like a warm nest directly underneath a skylight that encompassed the entire portion of the ceiling over it.

Damon undressed her slowly, his mouth covering every inch of skin newly uncovered and drinking in every drop of rain he found still clinging to her skin. He kissed her shoulders, her collarbone, the swell of her breast. He closed his mouth over her nipple through the fabric of her bra.

Elena draped her arms around his shoulders, tangling her fingers in his hair as she sighed in pleasure at the attention he was lavishing on her.

Next, her shorts joined her shirt on the floor, followed quickly by her panties. He remained kneeling in front of her, drinking in the sight of Elena taking off her bra to finally reveal her breasts to him. Damon licked his lips as his eyes honed in on dusky nipples that seemed to call to him, begging him for attention.

He blew out a slow breath to steady himself. This was about him focusing solely on her, on bringing her pleasure without thinking about what he wanted. He'd never done it this way before, but he was sure as hell going to try his best.

He encircled her ankle and made her lift her leg so he could take off her socks. He smiled as he looked at them; ankle-height, light blue in color with bees on them and the words 'what's the buzz?' on them. Damon made quick work of them, but instead of letting her lower her leg – as Elena had expected – he made her drape it over his shoulder.

Damon kissed the back of her knee, tongue darting out to tease a spot he knew would make her go crazy. As expected, Elena's breath stuttered and she gripped his shoulder to keep her balance. He smiled against her skin as he mouthed her thigh, moving closer to her glistening folds. He groaned at the sight; she was already so wet, all for him.

A hand in his hair made him look up.

"I've never…no one's ever…" She stuttered, swallowing around a dry throat.

"Do you want me to stop?" He asked her simply.

"No!" She blushed at the vehemence behind that single syllable. "I just though…I don't know what I thought."

Damon quickly reassessed his plans. If Elena had never had oral before, he needed to take things slow and make sure she would enjoy the experience. The women he'd been with had all been experienced in this area, so he needed to tread carefully.

He lowered her leg to the ground and stood up. Elena looked unsure and, dare he say it, disappointed. She probably thought he was going to leave her like that after her confession.

He took off his shirt and on second thought, unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his jeans, though he left the zip up for the moment. Then, he helped Elena lay down on the mattress. He followed after her, covering her body with his.

She was stiff beneath him, no doubt still embarrassed by her outburst so he kissed her deeply before moving down her body. He trailed kisses down the length of her neck – gently biting down on her pulse point – and over her breast, circling her nipple before taking it in his mouth, eliciting a strangled moan from Elena.

He spent some time taking care of her breast, switching from one to her other while his hands massaged the muscles of her thighs, coaxing her into opening her legs so he could move lower. Damon dipped his tongue in her navel and delighted when he heard her giggle at his action. She seemed relaxed now, muscles lax and loose.

In a fluid motion, Damon settled on his stomach and started to kiss her inner thigh. He advanced slowly, no matter how enticing she looked from his position. He stopped to worry her skin between his lips and teeth until a hickey formed as proof of his passing. Elena's hands laid flat on the mattress while her breasts heaved with her every sharp intake of breath she took.

Damon traced his tongue along the crease of Elena's thigh before finally reaching his destination. He took things at a distance, laying soft kisses around her already soaked folds. Only when she started to rock tentatively against him did he lay an open-mouthed kiss on her core. Elena arched off the bed, a loud moan escaping from her lips.

From that point, Damon let her guide him through what she wanted. He used his mouth in its entirety, paying attention to her opening without forgetting the little bundle of nerves that made her coil her hands around his sheets. He slid his arms under and around her legs, pulling her closer to his mouth as he worked on getting her off.

"Oh, God." Elena whimpered.

Damon moaned at the taste of her – the vibration from his throat making Elena release a choked sob – and slid a hand under his bobbing chin. He pushed first a finger inside her then feeling her loose, he pushed in a second one. He fingered her fast since he knew how close she already was. He crooked his fingers inside her and moved them in a come-hither motion against her front wall.

A well-timed, barely there scraping of his teeth against her clit was all it took to make her fall apart.

Elena's hands dove into his hair, keeping his head still as she rocked her hips frantically against his mouth, her cries swallowed by the loud clap of thunders.

Damon purred against her core as he helped her come down from her high. He pulled out his fingers and massaged her thighs through the spasms of her climax.

When Elena went still under his lips, he crawled up her body and laid a lazy kiss on her lips. She licked her lips tentatively when he moved away and he knew she was tasting herself for the first time. A spark of masculine pride struck in his chest.

He was content to lay there for a little longer, but Elena had other plans. He felt her hand slide inside his pants and circle him, pulling him out of his confines. She stroked his cock firmly, thumbing the already wet slit on his head.

Damon didn't bother taking off his jeans. He reached for a condom in the drawer of the small nightstand by the bed, brushed Elena's hand away and rolled it on. He laid back between Elena's thigh and pushed his pants down his thighs.

"I'm not gonna last." He warned her in a heated rasp against her lips. Watching her fall apart so beautifully under his lips and fingers had pushed him to the brink.

Elena wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him down. He sank in her in one, deep thrust.

His hips moved in quick thrusts that lacked his usual finesse. His mind was too far gone in the heat surrounding him, and he moved with single-minded purpose, rutting against her after the blinding pleasure he knew was barely out of his reach.

Elena's moans and his own guttural growls filled his ears accompanied by the low rumbling of the summer storm that didn't seem to want to end. Their sweat-slicked bodies slid one against the other in a fluidity of motion that erased any possible friction.

It wasn't enough.

Damon took Elena in his arms and sat up without sliding out of her. With one hand against the small of her back and the other splayed over her ass, he thrust deeply upward without semblance of rhythm. He was so close and yet he couldn't seem to fall over that glorious edge.

He felt Elena shift against him and tried to keep her still. She ignored him and planted her feet flat on the mattress giving herself the leverage she needed to rock her hips against his, riding him with quick movements that had him coming before he could even think about praising her for her quick thinking. His hips jerked against hers as he emptied himself inside the condom.

Elena whispered his name in his ear in a low litany that shook him like nothing ever had before.

They fell in a heap on the mattress and stayed still for a long time, loud panting and light whimpers the only sound coming from their lips. When he felt like his muscles worked again, Damon pulled out of Elena and took off the condom. He knotted it and threw it a little waste can on the other side of the nightstand.

He laid back on the mattress, shifting awkwardly against Elena's body as he tried to find a position in which to sleep. Elena took his arm and slung it around her own shoulders, curling herself against his side and resting her head on his chest.

Damon never slept better in his life than in that moment.

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 **What do you say? Was it worth the wait? Let me know!**


	18. Father

**AN: It's been a long time since my last update. Thank you so much for sticking with me even though my posting schedule is, for lack of a better world, horrible.**

 **WARNING: there is a short scene depicting child abuse in this chapter. It's nothing graphic but if this is something that could upset you, please skip the scene. It's easily recognizable as it is the only scene written in italics.**

 **Thanks to all of you dear readers and to my lovely beta delena21051!**

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Chapter 17 - Father

Elena finished trimming Father Kieran's geraniums and sat back on her heels to stare at her handiwork. She felt a sense of accomplishment as she looked at the healthy plant she had successfully trimmed all on her own. Even though her house in Mystic Falls had an ample garden, she had never taken the time to learn from her mother how to take care of its plants. Living with Father Kieran had presented her with the perfect occasion to learn something new.

Smiling with satisfaction, she stood up and went inside the house. She put away all the tools Father Kieran had given her and went in the kitchen to rinse her hands. Scrubbing away all the dirt from earth and the leaves proved to be harder than she thought.

Elena was splashing some cold water on her face to wash away some of the sweat from her hard work, when she heard her cellphone ringing in the other room. She dried off her hands half on a towel, half on her pants and went to answer.

A peak at the cellphone screen revealed that her mother was the one calling her.

"Hello?"

" _Hi, honey. How are you doing? It's been a while since you last called."_ Her mother's voice sounded gently scolding.

Elena did a mental count and cringed when she realized it had been days since she last spoke with her mother.

"I'm sorry, Mom. Stefan and I have been a little busy, that's all." She went back in the kitchen and opened the fridge, balancing the cellphone in the crook of her neck.

Elena grabbed all she needed to prepare a couple of sandwiches for her and Father Kieran and set everything on the kitchen counter.

" _You had me worried, Elena. You haven't even sent new pictures."_ Her mom surely knew how to use the right kind of tone to convey disappointment and make her feel like she had just committed the severest of sins.

Elena took the phone back into her hand and ran the other through her hair. There was no way of getting out of the situation but to tell the truth. If her mom was expecting new pictures, it was only a matter of time before she figured out what was going on. If she was the one to come out with the truth before things got too out of hand, then maybe she wouldn't get punished too severely once she got back home.

Maybe she'd keep one or two things for herself. No need to tell her mom about her quasi-boyfriend who also happened to be her mom's best friend's firstborn who no one knew about.

"Yeah, about that." Elena sucked in her teeth, pacing back and forth in the kitchen. "Stefan and I have kind of been staying in Boston for the past few weeks."

Elena closed her eyes and braced herself for the impending argument.

" _What do you mean you've been staying in Boston? Weren't you supposed to travel throughout the country before starting college?"_

She didn't sound angry. Yet.

"I know but we really liked Boston and we decided to just spend the rest of the time here. We're even closer to home so when we have to start preparing for college, we won't have to cross half the country to get back home." She tried to paint the situation in a more favorable light.

Her mom was not fooled.

" _And with what money are you planning to live there for another month? Where are you and Stefan even staying?"_

"We met some people when we went to a concert and they were kind enough to let us stay with them." How was she going to explain that they were currently living with a Catholic priest?

" _You met some people and they're letting you stay with them?"_

Now her mom was definitely starting to sound mad.

"They're good people, Mom. They play in a band and they're currently recording their first album, they're not serial killers or anything. I even found a part-time job in a music-shop to pay for stuff!"

" _None of that is making me feel better about the fact that my daughter is staying with complete strangers instead of doing what she told me she was going to do; touring the country!"_

"Mom-"

" _No, Elena. Your father and I trusted you to go on a road-trip with Stefan, and not only did you do anything but that, you conveniently forgot to mention that whenever I asked how things were going. Do you have any idea-"_ Elena heard a low beeping sound through the line, followed by her mom clicking her tongue in annoyance. _"You're lucky the hospital is calling, but rest assured that this is not the end of the story."_

Elena closed her eyes, bringing a hand to her forehead. "Mom, I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you, but so many things happened and it slipped my mind." She was very aware of how weak her excuses sounded even to her ears.

" _Not good enough, Elena."_ Miranda's voice was stern on the other end of the line. _"You can expect a call from your father and I as soon as I'm done telling him what is going on."_

Elena nodded to herself, forgetting that her mother couldn't see her through the phone. Disappointing her parents was the thing she hated the most, especially when she knew that if she had to do everything again, she wouldn't change a thing. Finding Damon had been a priority.

"Mom?"

" _Yes?"_

"I love you." She couldn't let the conversation end without saying that.

Miranda heaved a sigh. _"I love you too, sweetheart."_ Elena smiled at the way her mom's voice warmed as she said those words. _"We'll talk soon."_

Elena hung up and clenched the phone in a fist. Things had just gotten incredibly complicated for all of them. She had no idea what she was going to say to her parents when they called again. She knew she would have to give them an explanation, but what could she say.

Telling them the whole truth would put them in an awkward situation with Lily and Julian, and as much as her opinion of Lily was slowly but surely sinking, Elena couldn't do that to her parents. She knew that she could probably convince them to keep the fact that she and Stefan had found Damon a secret, but that wouldn't be fair to them.

And yet, if she didn't figure out something to tell them, she'd have to put them right in that situation.

Elena sighed and focused on preparing a couple of sandwiches for her and Father Kieran, hoping this method of distracting herself would work. It figures that right when things were actually going great, something like this would happen.

Since her date with Damon a week before, every day had been a new wonderful experience.

Her new boss complimented her for her dedication to the job; The Nobodies' album kept proceeding without hurdles; Caroline and Stefan seemed to be getting along like a house on fire – Elena had spotted them speaking quietly in a corner, so close together they were practically fused together; and her time spent with Damon was nothing but perfect.

Damon had opened up so much in the past week that Elena sometimes thought he was turning into somebody else. He seemed to have fallen into their new relationship without reserve now that he knew exactly what it entailed. He let her take the lead and set the pace – he was so set in his no-boyfriend-material mentality that he preferred to let her rhythms guide him – but once he started to get a handle on the situation, he eased into it without problems.

Elena smiled tenderly, biting her lower lip as she remembered their first – technically second – morning after. She'd woken up alone, and for a moment the disappointment she'd felt had been like a slap right in the face. Except a moment later, before she could even sit up, she'd heard Damon's footsteps walking up the stairs. When she'd turned around, she'd seen him carrying a tray with their breakfast on it.

Damon's smile when his eyes had caught hers had turned her into a pile of goo.

They'd eaten their waffles – because of course he knew how to prepare waffles – trading kisses and occasionally feeding one another morsels of food. It had felt like such a normal and light thing to do, that Elena honestly couldn't understand how Damon believed he was not boyfriend material. There was a deep need for affection in him, a craving for closeness that broke her heart and made her feel like she could jump and touch the sky at the same time.

The sound of the door opening followed by Father Kieran's steps wrenched Elena back from her thoughts.

Elena leaned back enough to catch Father Kieran's figure through the kitchen door.

"Lunch is not ready yet."

Kieran looked up from where he was checking the mail. "Oh hello, Elena. I didn't know you were home." He walked around the table in the dining room and joined her in the kitchen.

"Yeah, Jason called and gave me the day off. I'll have to go in tomorrow, though."

"That's good, I'm glad things are going well with your job. You shouldn't have gone through the trouble of preparing lunch for me; I don't mind cooking."

Elena shrugged her shoulders. "I don't mind. Even though I'm working now, you're still the one letting me stay in your house. This is the least I can do, and I'm just making sandwiches anyway."

"In that case I'm very thankful." He smiled kindly.

"By the way, I trimmed your geraniums this morning. I did exactly what you taught me but you might want to check I didn't maul your plants."

"I will, but I'm sure you did great."

Once the sandwiches were ready, they went to sit on the porch to eat their lunch together.

As she quietly munched on her sandwich, Elena stared at the gothic church rising from behind the trees in its dark glory. Because of the hour, the sun hit the church from behind making it seem like the building was a dark slab of onyx standing proud against the pale blue of the sky.

However, the rays of the sun, entering from the front of the church and invading its spaces and nooks, hit the glass windows behind the altar making them shine with all the colors of the rainbow. Angels, saints and Apostles seemed to come to life as the sun shone through them.

Just like the day she'd first set foot inside Saint Joseph's, Elena felt amazed and awed by the sheer nobility radiating from the building. Sometimes, it was hard to believe that simple men had built churches like that over the spans of decades. Somehow, it seemed impossible for something as minuscule as a human being, to build something so majestic.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Elena glanced at Father Kieran at her side. He too was looking at the church as he ate his lunch. There was something like pride in his eyes as he gazed at what was probably a second home for him.

"It is, yes. Humbling is the word I would use." She spoke in a soft voice as if compelled to show her respect to the old building.

"I think that is part of its job. Churches are supposed to be refuges for all those in need of help, but I always thought they also served the purpose of humbling men and making them realize that there is greatness around us that we can't always comprehend."

Elena took a moment to mull over his words before speaking again. "How did you become a priest? May I ask?" She added, afraid she was being too blunt.

Father Kieran stretched forward and set his plate on the railing around the porch. He filled a glass of water – silently asking her if she wanted one too – and took a long sip, before relaxing in his chair, slightly turned toward her.

"I come from a small town North of Dublin, called Drogheda; beautiful place. My entire family was Catholic, like most people in Ireland so I just grew up as a Catholic. When I was six, we had to move to Belfast because of my father's job. Let me tell you, being a Catholic in a neighborhood of Protestants was not easy, especially not at the time. The Bloody Sunday was still a fresh memory for most people. Add to that the conflict between Unionists and Nationalists and you can imagine what life was like at the time."

His eyes took on a faraway look. "My father and my sister were killed in a gun fight between the Official IRA and the Provisional IRA."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." Elena felt bad for having forced him to dredge up painful memories.

Father Kieran shook his head with a small smile. "It happened a long time ago. If I didn't want to talk about it, I would've said so."

She felt marginally better hearing that, though a part of her still regretted asking about his life in the first place.

"For a time I felt angry at everyone around me." Father Kieran went on with his story. "I wanted to hurt the people who'd taken my family from me; I wanted them to feel the same pain I felt."

Elena lowered her eyes, the trickle of raw hurt she could hear in the priest's voice made her feel like she was witnessing something private, something only close friends and family were allowed to see.

"What changed you?"

Father Kieran sighed and stretched his legs on the porch. "My uncle Liam came to visit us from the States. He wanted to help my mother in any way he could. My mother, bless her soul, wasn't fit to take care of me anymore; I was basically left to my own devices, so he took us back with him to the US."

He paused for a moment, as if to collect his thoughts.

"He made me go to church every single week, he told me that wishing ill upon those who had been responsible for my father and sister's death would only result in me poisoning myself with all that hate. Religion helped me see that. It was hard, but eventually I learned to keep the past in the past and move forward."

"So you've always wanted to become part of the church?" Elena asked him.

Father Kieran shook his head. "Oh no." He chuckled. "At first I wanted to become a teacher. Somehow, though, I kept finding my way back to the church so I decided that must have been a sign that that was the place where I was supposed to be."

He observed the church – his church – with such an air of serenity that Elena envied him. He was completely at peace with the choices he'd made in life, and it showed. She hadn't known him for long, but Elena was sure he was a truly religious man, the kind who really believed in what he did and preached, and who genuinely wanted to help people through the teachings of his God. And proof of that was wherever she looked.

He'd founded an orphanage, gave a home and a family to four lost children when they needed it, and he'd opened his home to two strangers without any reservation.

She truly envied and admired the life he'd built for himself, just as much as she envied and admired the unwavering faith he had in his religion. Elena had never been a religious person; she went to church because her parents had initiated her to it, but after her Confirmation she had sort of stopped going.

She did believe in the existence of God – though whether that was the Christian god or just a superior being, she didn't know – and she wanted to believe that there could be something after one's death, but that was it.

To believe in a God, a Father, that would never leave your side sounded truly comforting.

That last thought led her down darker paths, to questions and suspicions that had been haunting her since her first night with Damon. Questions she would not normally give voice to, but that in that moment, in the company of Father Kieran, she felt like she could ask.

"Can I ask you something?" She half-turned toward Father Kieran.

"You can ask anything, whether to answer or not is up to me." He said, a joking smile lightly curving his lips.

"It's about Damon's father."

Father Kieran looked her in the eye. "Then shouldn't you ask Damon?"

She knew that was going to be his answer, after all she did remember how he'd reacted to Stefan's questioning a little more than a week before. This time, though, she didn't think asking Damon would be the most tactful choice.

She turned fully toward the priest, curling her right leg under her and hugging the left to her chest. "What I want to ask is…delicate. If I'm wrong in my suspicions, then no harm done. If I'm right, though, I didn't want to force Damon to dredge up painful memories if he isn't ready to. I don't want to hurt him."

Father Kieran looked at her in a way that made her feel unbearably vulnerable. It was like his eyes were somehow digging inside of her, uncovering every secret she'd ever held to see if she was being sincere or if she was just looking for an easy way to get to know Damon's past.

Elena was suddenly reminded of her father's eyes whenever she and Jeremy misbehaved and he stared them down until he managed to pry the truth out of them.

When Father Kieran looked away – his green eyes focusing on the way the rays of the sun played with the water in his glass – Elena slightly slumped in her chair.

"Has Damon told you how he and I met?"

The question came out of the blue, and Elena needed a moment to collect herself and answer. "No, he didn't."

Father Kieran rubbed his jaw, and then shrugged his shoulders. "Well, it's as much my story as his so there's nothing wrong if I'm the one telling you about our first meeting." He took a sip of water before speaking again. "I met Damon some 17 years ago when he was about 8 years old. It was late in the afternoon and believe it or not, I was actually wondering about what to do with the rest of my life."

Elena frowned at the admission. "I thought being a priest was what you wanted to do."

"It is, but at the time I couldn't help but feel restless. I kept thinking that I needed to do something, but I didn't know what. I felt like I wasn't doing enough for this city, for this community."

"Didn't you found the orphanage? The one where Enzo, Caroline and Bonnie lived?" She asked. "And you gave them a home too. It seemed to me like you did a lot and you keep doing it even now."

He smiled at her with gratitude. "You're very kind, Elena. I wasn't trying to sound too humble; I am aware that the orphanage is doing many good things for all those children in need of a family, and I am endlessly grateful for the life I built with Damon and the others. That day, though, the orphanage and everything I had done up until then, didn't feel like it was enough. There was this…this void inside me that I didn't know how to fill."

"So what did you do?" Elena asked, curious.

"I looked at the altar inside the church and I asked Him for a sign, a clue, anything to show me the right path. I was desperate, and I thought that only God could point me to what I was supposed to do."

"And did He?"

Father Kieran chuckled. "In a manner of speaking, He did. Not long after my silent prayer, a boy came running into the church. I stood there, immobile, and watched as he threw himself to the ground hiding behind the pews, right next to my feet."

Elena's eyes widened. "Was that Damon?"

"Yes." He nodded. "I was about to remind him that he was inside the Lord's house, and he needed to show respect, when three other boys, older than him, came running in. They stopped when they saw me and one of them, the leader I suppose, asked me if I had seen their friend. He said they'd been playing together and lost sight of him."

"But it wasn't the truth." Elena already knew she was right.

Father Kieran nodded with a sad smile. "I didn't believe him of course, and a glance at the little boy's frightened eyes told me everything I needed to know. I sent them away and told the boy he could come out."

"What happened after that?" She wanted to know, impatient.

"He ran away."

"What?"

"He didn't even tell me his name." The priest smiled fondly at the memory. "Over the following weeks, he kept coming back, once or twice a week, always chased by the same boys. I let him hide inside my church, and he would run away once he knew he was safe. He never spoke a word." He paused shortly to grab his glass and take a sip of water. "After a while, though, he started coming every afternoon even when he wasn't chased."

"And you became friends." Elena shot a guess.

Father Kieran nodded slightly. "It wasn't easy, but little by little he started to trust me. He helped me around the church, and even came with me to visit the orphanage. Damon was a lively little thing, always full of questions and quick to loving the people who showed him kindness." The pause now took on a more serious tone. "Because he was around so much, it wasn't long before I started noticing the bruises on his arms."

Elena remained silent, her heart sinking in her chest. She imagined a little boy with dark hair and bright blue eyes, hiding his bruises and pretending they didn't hurt.

"At first, I didn't think much of them. Of course, it hurt to see him hurt, but there was little I could do to stop the bullies he faced at school. I opened my church to him, hoping to give him a safe place where he wouldn't get hurt. After a while, though, I decided to go to his school and speak with the Principal. Do you know what she told me?"

She shook her head, too caught up in the story and in the dark feeling that was spreading in her chest the more she listened to Father Kieran.

"She said that she was aware of what those boys were doing, and that was why they had already been suspended and were going to be transferred to another school." Father Kieran said bitterly. "At that point, I didn't know what to do. That afternoon, when Damon stopped by, I asked him about his bruises. He remained silent. When I told him that he could tell me anything and I would help him, for a moment there was this terrified look on his face. It was just a moment, then he went back to normal and he smiled, saying that he was simply clumsy and that was how he got those bruises."

"You can't have believed him!" Elena almost growled those words through gritted teeth.

"I didn't." He said calmly, unperturbed by her anger. "I didn't have any proof that anything wrong was happening in his home, but this horrible thought had taken root in my mind. So, a few days later, I insisted in accompanying Damon home, claiming I had things to do in that part of the town and that I didn't mind walking him home. That's how I met Giuseppe Salvatore."

"And?" Elena was almost afraid of the answer.

Father Kieran's clear green eyes looked at her with an aguish in them that stole her breath. Even before hearing the priest's answer, Elena understood that no matter what he'd seen in Giuseppe, no matter his certainties on his abuse on Damon, he'd never found a way to stop it. Not until Damon had turned 18 and decided to leave his home of his own free will.

"I looked that man in the eyes and I knew what he'd been doing to his son." The guilt she heard in his voice brought tears to her eyes. "I remember how he put his arm around Damon's shoulders and how Damon flinched for a second. He looked so surprised by the gesture, and a second later, he looked terrified. And all the while Giuseppe had this beaming smile on his face and he was amiably chatting with me and, Lord be my witness Elena, I swear to you he seemed the nicest man in the world."

He stopped talking, caught in his memories. There was a light trembling in his hands as they clenched around the black cloth of his cassock. Elena wished there was something she could do to chase away the haunted look in his eyes, but nothing would ever erase the guilt and the powerlessness that Kieran had felt when confronted with the reality of Damon's home situation.

"Why didn't you do anything?" She was aware that her question sounded like an accusation, but she didn't care because in her mind, she kept seeing this scared little boy turned into a man who hid his scars to the world.

"I tried, Elena." Father Kieran's voice trembled slightly. "But Giuseppe was an extremely powerful man and one couldn't just cross him in this town, especially not an Irish priest who wasn't even from Boston. If Giuseppe Salvatore said that his kid was clumsy and ran into things, then that's exactly what happened. I did the best I could in that situation, and I will have to deal with that for the rest of my life."

With those words, Father Kieran stood up. He excused himself, took his plate inside the house and then left to go back to his church.

Elena didn't try to stop him or talk to him. There were no words she could offer to ease his pain, and honestly she didn't think she could actually speak in that moment. Father Kieran had just shared with her some of what were probably among the most painful memories he had, and she respected him enough to allow him to deal with his pain in the privacy of his church.

For the first time since the beginning of this story, Elena felt like she could understand why Lily had left her husband. But she was also certain that leaving Damon behind with him, had not been an acceptable price to pay. She didn't fault Lily for running away from an abusive husband, certainly not with her newborn child, but Damon had been the one to bear the brunt of Giuseppe's abuse for the next 11 years and that was not something that could be forgiven.

Lily had been a common presence in the Gilberts' house throughout her life, but Elena knew that she would never again be able to look at her with the same eyes.

Elena hugged her legs to her chest, burying her face against her knees. In the shadow of Saint Joseph's Cathedral, she silently cried for the family that Giuseppe had torn apart; she cried for Stefan, who had been robbed of his brother and would have to face the reality of who his mother really was; she cried for Lily, who would have to face the consequences of her actions sooner rather than later.

But most of all, she cried for the little boy who wore his pain as permanent marks on his skin and shied away from closeness to others because he knew firsthand how much love could hurt.

~.~

 _He knows he's dreaming._

 _He doesn't dream often, but when he does he dreams of past events. He's 12 years old and he's finishing his homework. He left math for last because he's always had problems with it and he knows that if he starts with it, he'll get frustrated and then he'll just stop doing his homework._

 _It's late in the evening, just before dinner, and he's finishing the last problem when the front door opens and his father comes in. He doesn't look up. He keeps doing what he's doing without acknowledging his father's return from work. Sometimes, if he doesn't make a sound, his father just lets him be._

" _What are you doing?"_

 _He should have known that things wouldn't go his way._

" _I'm finishing my homework." Delaying his answer would only anger his father._

 _He keeps his eyes on what he's doing as he listens to his father making his way to the liquor cart. The sound of Bourbon being poured in a tumbler goes on for long. Too long. His father has had a bad day at the office._

" _Look at you, the diligent student." His father gulps down half the amber liquid in his glass. "If you're such a good student, how comes your school called me this afternoon and told me you're failing history?"_

 _His blood turns into ice in his veins. Whenever his father speaks in that tone of voice – that slow, cold drawl that feigns casualty – and drinks so much in one gulp, things can go in only two ways; a beating or a demeaning lecture. It all depends on the way he answers. And how quickly._

" _What's the matter, boy? Cat got your tongue?" His father slams his glass on the table. "And look at me when I'm talking to you!"_

 _He jumps to his feet and looks up into his father's eyes. He's seen the hate and the disgust in those dark green eyes more times than he can count, yet he's always unprepared for it._

" _I'm just having some troubles with history, that's all." He tries to keep his voice steady. "I'll pass it with the next test."_

" _How does one even fail history?" His father ignores him and takes a step closer to him. He forces himself to stay right where he is. "You only have to read a goddamn book and remember what it says. Are you telling me you're so fucking stupid you can't even do that?"_

 _The insult stings more than he wants to admit. He should be used to it by now. He_ is _used to it._

" _Sometimes I get a little confused with all the dates." It's a vain effort, but he wants to postpone the punishment for as long as he can._

" _It's all because of that good for nothing priest, isn't it?" His father has his glass back in hand and he's waving it around as he speaks, sloshing Bourbon over the floor. "You spend all your afternoons with that goddamn priest and these are the results."_

" _Father Kieran is a better man that you could ever hope to be!"_

 _He barely dodges the glass his father hurls at him. It shatters against the wall behind him with a sound that pierces his eardrums._

" _What did you say, boy?"_

 _His father's voice sounds conversational. He doesn't try to escape when he sees his father stalk toward him. If he were drunk enough, he could try to run and hide in his room. But his father has barely drunk half his glass. If he tried to run, he wouldn't make it to the stairs._

 _The first punch is always the worst, because even if he knows it's about to come, the way it steals his breath and sends him crushing to the ground leaves him stunned. It's a reminder of how powerless he is, how he doesn't stand a chance against his attacker._

 _He doesn't make a sound when his father's knuckles impact with the tender flesh of his stomach. When the punch makes him fall right on top of what remains of his father's glass and a shard embeds itself in his back, that's when he screams in pain. By then, his father is already on top of him and his kicks and punches rain over every inch of his body._

 _But not his face. Never his face._

 _He realizes he's about to wake up when in the middle of his beating, he sees his mother looking at him with pity in her eyes._

Help me.

 _He shouts it in his head._

" _I love you." She says._

Please, help me.

 _She turns her back to him and leaves the room._

 _He knows he's dreaming. But the pain of watching his mother's retreating back isn't dulled by that knowledge._

Only years of waking up drenched in sweat because of a nightmare kept Damon from screaming himself awake. He laid immobile on his back, eyes fixed on the glass ceiling in his loft. He remained perfectly still, waiting for his heart to slow down and his breathing to stabilize.

When it became clear that no amount of slow breathing would get him anywhere, he rolled to his right where Elena was peacefully sleeping next to him. She was lying on her stomach, sheets pooled at the small of her back, leaving ample stretches of naked olive skin vulnerable to his gaze.

Damon placed his hand high on her back – fingers splayed over her shoulder blades – and moved it down in a slow, gentle caress. Elena stretched lightly beneath his touch, releasing a soft sigh that rolled over him since he was lying so close to her.

Not even knowing why, he moved closer and laid his head on her back. He curled his hand around her hip and pressed his ear against her shoulder blade. With his eyes closed, in the pitch black of the night, he let the gentle beating of Elena's heart guide him back to the light.

"…can't compare Johnny and Bruce, Mom…not the same thing…"

A slow smile bloomed on his lips as he listened to Elena mumble in her sleep. It was something he had discovered during the nights she had spent in his loft. Unfortunately, they had only had two more sleepovers since the night he'd brought her to the loft, but on both nights Elena had talked in her sleep.

In the beginning, Damon thought this habit of her would get annoying; now it was a comfort to have her often incoherent and amusing rambling whenever he woke up in the dead of night.

Damon's mind spaced as Elena's heart lulled him into a half-asleep state.

In that peaceful moment between wakefulness and unconsciousness, Damon heard the first notes of a new song come to him. He lost himself in the melody created by Elena's heartbeat, her soft breaths, and the gentle brushing of his eyelashes against the skin of her back.

The product was a melody he'd never heard before. It didn't feel like the usual songs he wrote, when he allowed the walls he'd built around himself to lower so that what he felt could spill out and turn into music. No, this wasn't the same, it wasn't _him_.

Elena shifted under him and released a soft moan as if about to wake up.

Damon opened his eyes and before the melody he'd heard could slip through his fingers, he reached over Elena, into the second drawer of the nightstand. He pulled out the leather-bound notebook where he wrote all the songs he kept to himself. He opened it on a blank page and there, in that bed with Elena right by his side, he wrote down the song.

He wrote as if possessed, not really paying attention to the words he was jotting down as quickly as he could. He didn't allow himself to pay too much attention to the lyrics; he had a feeling he wasn't ready to yet. That song was going to be a glimpse in a life he couldn't fully accept at the moment.

He kept writing for what felt like an eternity, until Elena started waking, probably disturbed by the sound of pen scratching paper as he kept writing. He closed the notebook and tucked it back into its drawer before lying down on his stomach next to Elena.

Elena's eyes slowly blinked open and she raised a hand to cut off a short yawn. As she did so, she scrunched up her nose in a way that Damon – surprising himself – could only define as adorable.

"Sorry. Did I wake you up?" He asked her, brushing strands of hair away from her face.

"What were you doing?" She mumbled still half asleep.

"Nothing important."

She gave him a look that said she wasn't exactly sure whether to believe him or not. He leaned forward and kissed her sweetly to distract her from her line of inquiry. Elena sighed against his mouth and chased after his lips when he ended the kiss. They kept trading barely-there – almost brushing of lips – kisses in a way he'd never experienced before. There was nothing sexual in what they were doing, but thanks to Elena, Damon was starting to think that a kiss could mean a thousand different things depending on the occasion and the person who kissed you.

He wondered what it meant that lying naked in bed, lightly kissing without nothing more in mind, felt more intimate than having sex.

After endless minutes, Elena leaned back to rest her head on the arm he'd partially tucked under his pillow. She'd moved closer as they kissed, and had thrown her right leg over the small of his back in a half-straddle. Snuggled against his side, she treaded her fingers through the short hair at the nape of his neck, every once in a while moving lower to sweep the pads of her fingers over the lines of his tattoo.

He tensed when she skimmed over the scar caused during the episode he'd dreamed of.

"I always thought tattoos would feel different to the touch." She said lightly.

He was caught off-guard by her question. "How so?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I thought I would be able to tell the ink and the skin apart, like they would somehow have different textures or something." She traced a feather of the crow. "This just feels like skin."

"Don't sound so disappointed."

"I'm not." She shook her head. "I'm just saying."

He let her trace his tattoo for a while before asking, "Have you ever thought about getting one?"

She nodded. "Never found the courage. That and a tattoo is forever, and I could never find something I'd want on my body for the rest of my life."

"Fair enough."

They remained silent for a long moment. Damon could read it on Elena's face that she wanted to ask something but didn't know how to.

"What?" He encouraged her.

She bit her lip before deciding to bite the bullet and ask what she wanted. "Have you ever been in love?"

He frowned. "I told you, Elena. I've never had a relationship before."

"That's not what I asked."

He sighed and rolled onto his back, pulling Elena with him. She tucked herself against his side, head on his chest and legs tangled with his. Maybe it was the conversation they were having, but for a moment, Damon thought that the way their bodies seemed to just _fit_ together meant that they were meant to be like this.

"I don't think I've ever been in love." He told her in a quiet voice.

"Never?" Her voice was a whisper as she played with the short hair on his chest.

He took a moment to gather his thoughts before answering. What she was asking deserved to be answered with complete honesty. It wasn't something he truly wanted to discuss, but Elena had this way of putting him at ease and make him want to show himself to her that he didn't completely understand.

"Love doesn't come easy to me." He said, honestly. "It doesn't help that 'I love you' doesn't really mean anything to me. People throw it around so much that it's lost its meaning to me. Everyone say things like 'I love this movie' or 'I love your hair' without actually meaning it half the time, and that's all well and good until they say it about people too."

Elena's hand stopped moving, coming to rest flat over his heart. He covered it with his own without even thinking about it.

"You know who was the last person to say 'I love you' to me?" He said making himself vulnerable like never before. "It was Lily. She took my face in her hands and said that she loved me right before walking out the door never to come back."

He felt her flinch against him.

"Father Kieran never said he loves you?" She sounded shocked.

"He didn't have to. That's the point, Elena." He needed her to understand. "I know he loves me, he shows it to me every single day we see each other. Just like I know Enzo and the others love me. I don't need to hear those words, I just need to feel them. That's all."

Elena remained silent for a long moment. He wondered what she was thinking, if she saw him as a freak now that she was getting a glimpse of how fucked up he truly was. He didn't think she would ever openly judge him, but he was aware of how broken he was and he wouldn't blame her if she decided she deserved better than him.

"Maybe things will change one day. Those words could go back to mean something to you when you meet the right girl." She said in a mumble.

Damon felt her breathing deepen as she hugged him closer to her body and knew she had fallen asleep before hearing his answer. He pressed his lips against her forehead and brushed back her hair, keeping her close to his body.

"Maybe."

* * *

 **As always, let me know what you think in a review!**


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